County injury crisis continues to worsen

Northamptonshire have suffered yet another blow to their pre-season preparations with the news Rob Newton has fractured a finger.
Rob NewtonRob Newton
Rob Newton

It means the batsman joins an ever-increasing list of players who will be unavailable or struggling to make the first game of the season in under two week’s time.

Alex Wakely has been ruled out for the season with a severe Achilles injury while overseas signing Jackson Bird this week pulled out of his contract having been advised to rest his bad back.

Also struggling to make the first game against Durham a week on Sunday are all-rounder David Willey (back), batsman David Sales (calf) and wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Duckett (knee).