England seam bowler Ajmal Shahzad's injury rules him out of one-day series but not as bad as first feared

Doubtful: Ajmal Shahzad has picked up a hamstring injury in Australia that puts in doubt his place in the England team for the forthcoming World Cup Photo: GETTY IMAGES

When Shahzad first pulled up, while bowling his eighth over in Brisbane on Sunday, it looked as though he could be out of action for a while.

Many observers questioned why he insisted on completing the final two balls (which became three when one of them was called as a wide). But little harm appeared to have been done. The scans showed this to be a minor tear, so minor that he may need only eight days to recover.

There was more good news concerning Chris Tremlett, who had reported pain in his side. But while Tremlett’s scan showed no sign of any muscle damage, the England set-up indicated that they would be cautious about returning him to the front line in Sunday’s final one-day international in Perth, which follows the sixth in Sydney overnight.

Shahzad’s rehabilitation must be the more immediate concern, as he is joining a lengthy absentee list among England’s 15 World Cup selections.

With Tim Bresnan resting his torn calf muscle at home, Stuart Broad still working his way up to full speed in the nets, and Graeme Swann recuperating from two back spasms, four of the seven specialist bowlers are missing.

James Anderson – who was given two short breaks from this tour – is the only first-choice seamer still standing. Michael Yardy and James Tredwell are also fit.

Assuming that Tremlett starts bowling again soon, he could yet come into the World Cup equation, as there is no guarantee that Bresnan will recover fitness over the next month. England have little time left for rest and rehabilitation, with their first full match on Feb 22.

Just to add to the sense of urgency, the International Cricket Council confirmed on Tuesday that England’s two warm-up matches — against Canada on Feb 16 and Pakistan on Feb 18 — can only be contested by players from the full 15-man squad. So if Tremlett or Chris Woakes is required to help out in those games, they will have to be substituted permanently into the party.

Meanwhile, Liam Plunkett is due to arrive in Australia on Wednesday after a horrendous journey that took him from St Kitts to Perth via Miami, London and Singapore.

If England decide to use four seamers at the WACA on Sunday — a logical enough tactic, given its reputation for pace and bounce — you would imagine that Plunkett would join Anderson, Woakes and Steven Finn in the XI.

Just to put into perspective how severe this injury crisis has become, England named nine seam bowlers in their World Cup 30 in mid-December.

Eight of those have either played some part on this tour, or — in Plunkett’s case — are on their way to do so. Poor Jade Dernbach, the ninth man, must be feeling very unloved.

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England seam bowler Ajmal Shahzad ruled out of rest of one-day international series against Australia

Fellow quick Chris Tremlett was also ruled out of tomorrow’s sixth and penultimate one-dayer in Sydney after he also had a scan on a side strain today, although he was cleared of suffering a tear to a side injury.

The tall right-armer will be reassessed in the coming days and may be fit to return to action for the final game in Perth on Sunday.

“Shahzad has suffered the type of minor hamstring tear that required at least eight days of rest, and as such he will be rested,” an England and Wales Cricket Board spokeswoman said.

“He will remain with the England squad in Australia where he will be in the best to begin his rehabilitation from the injury.

“The England team are remaining cautious with Tremlett (who is not a part of the World Cup squad) despite the scans showing no sign of a tear.

“The specialists will take another look at him in the coming days and make a further assessment before the final game of the series in Perth on Sunday.”

England’s batsmen will be aiming to put a disappointing one-day international series behind them, and re-establish their dominance over Australia this winter, when they play the first of two dead rubbers in Sydney tomorrow.

After conceding the seven-game series with a 51-run defeat in Brisbane on Wednesday, skipper Andrew Strauss admitted that his batsmen had let the side down.

England have failed to find the consistency with the bat that marked their Ashes success earlier in the tour as they have been bowled out in all four of their defeats.

The tourists’ only success so far arrived in Adelaide when a century from Jonathan Trott guided them to 299 for eight – England’s highest score against Australia on their home soil.

Strauss has repeatedly lamented “soft dismissals” for his side’s problems and with the World Cup looming large there is little time left to rectify the issue.

With that in mind all-rounder Luke Wright admitted that England had plenty of incentive in the remaining two matches of the series, which concludes in Perth on Sunday, as they aim to go to the subcontinent with some improved form under their belt.

“It has been disappointing series, but no one knows that more than the batters – we want to put it right,” he said.

“It showed in the one game we won, when Trotty went on and made a big hundred. That’s what we did well in the Test matches, people got big hundreds and that’s why we won the series.

“We’ve played outstandingly well in one-day cricket for two years now, so very disappointed to lose the series but obviously we’ve still got a lot to look forward to.

“The next two games are very important for us going into the next World Cup.

“It’s a massive confidence game and any momentum we can get going into that World Cup is going to be a help.

“If we can go home and it’s 4-3 then we can take quite a lot from that. Australia are such a top opponent, especially here as well.” The 25-year-old all-rounder has been a regular part of the England limited overs squad for the past couple of years without pinning down a set role with either bat or ball.

His bits-and-pieces role has been underlined in the already-lost series against Australia during which he has played just one game – when he was the second top-scorer with 32 in last week’s defeat in Sydney.

Wright is, however, likely to return on the same ground tomorrow following the mounting injury count to England’s bowlers.

In their absence Wright, who bowled only two overs in his one match in the series, is likely to be given a more significant role with the ball and he is hoping to grab his opportunity as time ticks down toward the World Cup.

“Every time you play you give yourself an opportunity to make a statement and keep your spot,” he said.

“It only takes one game, a big hundred or a five-for to get a spot down.

“I’ve played just the one game but I’ve trained hard and I’m hoping to get the nod for tomorrow.

“All you can do is work hard and when you get your chance take the opportunity.

“You’ve always got a lot to prove in international cricket. It doesn’t take long for everyone to need a performance and you always want one.”

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England bowler James Anderson played through back pain during victorious Ashes series in Australia

The time away was well-deserved, for his leadership of the Ashes attack – to which he contributed 24 wickets at 26 apiece - was exemplary. But it was not solely a sympathetic reaction from England.

They also had an inkling that they could wear out their key fast bowler if they sent him straight into a one-day series.

If anyone doubted the dangers of England’s excessive workload, they only have to look at the redoubtable Tim Bresnan, who flew out of Sydney on Monday with a torn calf muscle.

Does Anderson think he would have broken down without the opportunity to get away?

“You never know,” he replied, “but I’m sure the more tired your body gets, the more chance of getting injured there is. I think the problem I had in Perth was taken into account with a big World Cup in mind.

"I’ve had a rest and I feel refreshed so I think it’s done me the world of good.”

A tireless worker in the gym, Anderson has maintained his fitness superbly over the last four years, especially by the standards of modern English fast bowling.

Not even the boot camp that left him with a broken rib in October, courtesy of a boxing bout with fast-bowling rival Chris Tremlett, could end a sequence of unbroken availability that stretches all the way back to the last Ashes tour.

The one Test series he has sat out was during the Bangladesh tour in March, when he was given leave to rest a mysteriously sore but hardly incapacitating right knee.

Otherwise, he has stayed mercifully free of leg injuries – the fast bowler’s usual curse.

Perhaps his secret is his lightweight build, which contrasts with the lumbering physiques of more muscular speedsters like Andrew Flintoff or Ryan Harris.

Or perhaps it is his economical action, which - unlike Darren Gough’s or Zaheer Khan’s - does not involve a high leap into the crease. Instead, he is more of a torso bowler, creating pace with a big snap from the upper body and waist

The former England bowling coach, Troy Cooley, tried to remodel Anderson’s delivery stride because it was seen as biomechanically incorrect and injury-prone – especially when he looks at the floor as he lets the ball go.

But it is only since Anderson reverted to his original, fluid style that he has rediscovered his knack for swing and turned himself into one of the finest pacemen in the world.

His return will come as a huge relief to Andrew Strauss and the rest of the England team, because they have won just one of the five international games they have played since he left Australia – and that only on the final ball.

To be fair to England’s back-up seamers, both Chris Tremlett and Ajmal Shahzad have performed admirably in Anderson’s absence. It is Strauss and his fellow batsmen who have let the side down, gifting their wickets via run-outs and long-hops slapped straight to fielders.

Still, Anderson’s extra experience and nous will nevertheless give Strauss an extra option in the middle of the innings. Had he been around to extend his hoodoo over the Australian openers, he might well have interrupted Shane Watson’s inspirational innings of 161 not out in the first one-day international in Melbourne.

Now 3-0 down in the 50-over games with four to play, England are effectively out of the running for the Commonwealth Bank Trophy. But they still need to regain a little pride, if only to avoid going into the Asian World Cup in a negative frame of mind.

“I think we’ve bowled pretty well all the way through [the one-day series],” Anderson said.

“But our batting’s probably not quite clicked and we haven’t had the big individual innings you need for a good total. The guys will be looking to step up and someone get a big hundred or a couple of guys get 80s.

“On Wednesday we’re looking to turn things round. If we get beat 7-0 it won’t do our confidence any good going into a World Cup and it will mean we’re not in good form as a team.

"This game will be good for us because we’re under a lot of pressure to win it and stay in the series. Hopefully it will recreate the situations we will face in the World Cup.”

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