Butcher Out of England Tour

Two weeks ago some people were talking about England beating South Africa 5-0. Now, their campaign is unravelling like a tatty old sweater: today Mark Butcher was ruled out of the remainder of the Test series with a wrist injury, while Andrew Flintoff has still not been cleared to bowl in the crucial fourth Test at Johannesburg, which begins on Thursday.

Butcher tested his sprained left wrist this morning but was clearly in discomfort after a dozen or so throw-downs with a tennis ball.

After consulting with England physio Kirk Russell, it was decided he could not continue and he put back on the cast he has worn since before the third Test.

England's management are trying to contact Warwickshire's Ian Bell as quickly as possible to get him to fly out immediately to provide batting cover.

Bell was due to arrive with the rest of the one-day specialists later this week, but England now hope to get him there within 36 hours.

"It improved but obviously not enough for me to go into a Test match," Butcher said. "I was struggling with a few throw-downs with tennis balls, and there was no chance I could have played cricket balls without discomfort."

Surrey captain Butcher has had a torrid run with injuries in the past six months and was forced to miss the home Test series against West Indies with various problems.

"I have been despondent about things since last summer when I got those injuries," he added, "but this feels much worse.

"I had been quite hopeful at the weekend after the swelling had gone down, but there was no chance of me getting through for this match."

England also have injury concerns over Flintoff for the fourth Test at the Wanderers. Flintoff has a side strain and has so far not bowled in practice.

If he is not fit to bowl, England may well bring in James Anderson for Ashley Giles, so as to keep a four-man seam attack. The alternative is to play Paul Collingwood ahead of Robert Key at No3, and rely on his dobbers as a fourth seam-bowling option. Either way, the circumstances are far from ideal.