England’s preparations for the Ashes have been full of injuries scares with as many as three players were at the wrong end before the series opener. The visitors about to get yet another dent before the series as their wicket-keeper Jonathan Bairstow got injured during team’s final warm-up game in Townsville on Wednesday.

During the post-lunch session, stumper Bairstow took a ball on one bounce from Chris Woakes, which was left by the batsman Ryan Gibson. He was immediately seen in a lot of pain, which stretched England’s Physio out in the middle. Physio treated him on his left hand before taking him off the field.

However, he came back after a while and England’s officials confirmed that it was just a bruise on his middle finger of left hand. In his absence, uncapped Ben Foakes acted as the wicket-keeper for an hour.

The Three Lions took a sigh after this tiny blip as Bairstow has been their key player in the Test cricket in 2016, where he scored over 1400 runs. Earlier, their mainstay of spin department Moeen Ali got injured before the first tour game along with Steven Finn, who eventually lost his place in the squad to Tom Curran. However, Ali is fit now and is currently playing in the final warm-up game.

Jake Ball, too, got injured during the second warm-up game in Adelaide and advised to take rest for a week or so. Ball is not playing in this game and will resume his training by tomorrow.

The Ashes will commence from November 23 in Brisbane’s Gabba.