England captain Joe Root sent for scans after suffering abdominal injury

There were bizarre scenes at Adelaide Oval after England captain Joe Root was sent for scans following a pre-match training mishap.

There were bizarre scenes at Adelaide Oval after England captain Joe Root was struck down with an abdomen injury during a training mishap ahead of day four of the second Ashes Test.

The ECB confirmed that Root sustained an injury during warm-ups and would not take the field when day four got underway on Sunday afternoon.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes served as stand-in captain while team medics assessed the 30-year-old.

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“Root will not be on the field at the start of play today after being hit in the abdomen during throwdowns in the warm-up before play,” ECB said in a statement.

“He is currently being assessed by the England medical team.”

It was later reported that Root had been sent for scans.

According to The Mirror’s Dean Wilson, Root was receiving throwdowns from spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel when a delivery nipped off the practice wicket and struck him in the nether regions.

The Evening Standard’s Will Macpherson reported that the Yorkshire batter was not wearing a box.

Ouch! #Asheshttps://t.co/dT8yUVlB0y

— Dan-yule Brettig 🎄 (@danbrettig) December 19, 2021

England did not select a strike spinner for the day-night fixture at Adelaide Oval, with Root serving as the side’s lone tweaker in the first innings.

However, Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon proved there was plenty of turn and bounce on offer in Adelaide on Saturday, so the loss of Root was a frustrating blow for the visitors.

Commentators were left in shock when England seamer Ollie Robinson started bowling off-spin from the cathedral end while donning sunglasses in the first session.

To the surprise of many, the 28-year-old generated some considerable turn on the Adelaide Oval deck – CricViz revealed that Robinson found 2.4 degrees of drift in his first over, well above the global finger-spinner average of 1.6 degrees.

According to the all-knowing CricViz boffins, he was spinning the Kookaburra more than Jack Leach did in Brisbane.

Robinson has previously bowled 26 overs of spin in county cricket, but never at Test level – and certainly not in an Ashes series.

Fox Cricket also unearthed footage of Robinson practising his off-spin before play, suggesting it was a planned strategy from the visitors.

the competitiveness of this series has just reached a new low #Ashes

— Corbin Middlemas (@CorbinMiddlemas) December 19, 2021

I don’t have strong opinions on the WTC over rate penalty issue … but Ollie Robinson bowling off spin does rather make a mockery of a series that’s been marketed as the ultimate in Test cricket.

— Michael Appleton (@michelappleton) December 19, 2021

Ollie Robinson bowling spin. This tour is truly wild.

— Rory Dollard (@thervd) December 19, 2021

“He got some nice loop, didn’t bowl too fast and a little bit of turn,” Australian great Shane Warne said on Fox Cricket.

“Normally you’ll see a part-timer that’s not used to it try and fire it in. But it’s nice to see Ollie Robinson giving it a little bit of loop.

“It’s nice to have that versatility. We played with Colin Miller … you could give him the new rock with a bit of swing then he’d turn to spin.”

Root gingerly returned to the field of play about 30 minutes before the dinner break, but did not bowl before the interval.

Australia is 4/134 at the dinner break on day four, with first innings centurion Marnus Labuschagne unbeaten on 31 and Travis Head at the other end on 45.