A dejected Chris Tremlett after learning that he will be returning home © Getty Images Enlarge

It was the latest in a series of injury setbacks for Tremlett, who was England's twelfth man for four of the five Ashes Tests in 2005. He was picked for the subsequent tour of Pakistan that winter but withdrew before the series, and he also required an injection in his shoulder after making his debut in last summer's home series against India.

The England management confirmed that there were no immediate plans for a replacement, although Tremlett was not England's only injury worry in Dunedin. Paul Collingwood did not take the field at all on the second day after sustaining a grade one tear to his right hamstring - an injury he first felt during the tied ODI in Napier last week. Collingwood is expected to bat as and when required, although he - like Sidebottom - has to be a doubt for the first Test in Hamilton, which is now only five days away.

Matthew Hoggard was also in the wars for England. He vomited into a rubbish bin on the boundary's edge after picking up a stomach bug, but he is expected to be fully fit for the first Test.