London, August 31:
England will
delay finalising their squad for the final Test against India at
the Oval next week in the desperate hope that Ronnie Irani can
come to the rescue of an injury-torn side barely two weeks after
undergoing a knee operation.
Irani was scheduled to
see his medical consultant on Friday to discuss the state of a
knee that was cleaned out only last Monday to solve the cartilage
trouble that had hounded him since his spectacular return for
England in the triangular one-day NatWest Series.
Initial advice was that
Irani would be out for three weeks, which left him with a
challenging enough task to prove his fitness for England's one-day
squad for next month's Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.
But such is England's
plight after India levelled the series at Headingley that they
will seriously consider fielding Irani at No7 if medical reports
are encouraging, though his only opportunity to play a competitive
match before then would come in Essex's Norwich Union League
fixture on Sunday.
Of England's two
established batting all-rounders, Andrew Flintoff is undergoing a
hernia operation and Craig White is unfit to bowl. The alternative
solution of fielding seven batsmen is unlikely to find favour.
For Irani, selection at
the Oval would cap a summer he could not have dared anticipate.
His England stock has risen markedly and he has captained Essex to
the verge of promotion back to the First Division of the
championship.
Irani's fitness has
become an increasing cause for concern because of another injury
to the luckless Dominic Cork. He missed the Headingley Test
despite professing his recovery from a knee injury. Now he could
miss the Oval because of a broken finger.
England's selectors had
the first of several troubled meetings on Thursday as they attempt
to finalise four squads. The England side for the final Test, a
one-day party for the Champions Trophy, the touring party for this
winter's Test series in Australia, and the Academy squad, some of
whom could be earmarked to provide Ashes cover.
