Sam Curran ruled out for remainder of English summer

Sam Curran's Test return will be delayed as he has been ruled out of the remainder of the English summer with a groin injury. The England allrounder will undergo surgery on Friday. He was expected to be the ideal replacement for Ben Stokes in England's red-ball team. Curran endured the injury while playing for MI London in the recently concluded men's Hundred.

Curran, 28, made his Test debut against Pakistan in June 2018 at Headingley. In 24 Tests, Curran has aggregated 815 runs at an average of 24.69, including three fifties. He has claimed 47 wickets averaging 35.51. He has two four-wicket hauls and is still searching for his maiden five-for.

In the past few years, Curran has largely focused on white-ball cricket. England desperately need Curran back in their scheme of things in red-ball cricket following Stokes' exit. 

"With the retirement of Ben Stokes, it's quite clear that he provided us with a certain balance in the team. Sam Curran is certainly a player of interest for us," England selector Marcus North said earlier while speaking about the significance of Curran in the Test side.

"Sam has had a really heavy workload this summer playing a tremendous amount of cricket, and during that time he's been doing so with a couple of niggles, which you expect most bowlers do. But at this stage with a couple of niggles - we've seen he's missed a game in the Hundred - we don't feel physically, he's just quite right there.

"I think [it would be] unfair to put him into these first two Tests. He's someone our backroom staff and medical team will be working with in the coming weeks to make sure that he potentially becomes an option in the third Test. He's someone that we really value highly and we see playing a role in the future for us as an allrounder."

Meanwhile, Jacks has undergone an appendix operation and will miss the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka.