Thakor ruled out of U-19 tour

Shiv Thakor, the Leicestershire allrounder, has been ruled out of the England Under-19 tour of South Africa where he was captain after sustaining a broken finger in the opening match of the trip.

He is expected to be out of action for six weeks after suffering the blow against a Western Cape Invitation XI. In the first innings of that match he made 30 then took 2 for 11 but did not bat in the second innings.

Oli Stone, the Northamptonshire player, will replace Thakor as captain for the remainder of the tour and Thomas Alsop, from Hampshire, has been named as the replacement batsman. Alsop is part of the Under-17 squad and trained with the U-19s at Loughborough before the tour.

Jamie Overton, the Somerset bowler, will be added to the squad for the one-day series next month after being released from the England Performance Squad fast bowling programme.

The two-match Test series begins on January 27 in Cape Town.