Finn out of tour; Jordan called up

Steven Finn has been ruled out of the remainder of England's tour of the UAE due to the stress injury in his left foot which ended his hopes of making the opening encounter in Abu Dhabi.

Finn will be replaced in the Test and one-day squads by Chris Jordan, the Sussex allrounder, who played the last of his eight Tests against West Indies in Barbados in April. Finn was not part of the T20 squad while Jordan was already in the group.

England depart for South Africa, a tour where Finn's natural attributes will come into their own, in early December so he has two months to regain fitness which is around the timeframe for these types of injuries so it could be touch-and-go whether he makes the warm-up matches.

It is a cruel blow for Finn who made a triumphant return to the Test side during the Ashes, 18 months after his career was left in doubt when he was deemed unselectable in Australia and sent home.

Finn claimed 6 for 79 on his comeback at Edgbaston to help England level the series and played the remainder of the series, while he has also emerged as the senior man in the limited-overs side since James Anderson and Stuart Broad were left out of the white-ball teams.

Ben Stokes said the team were heartbroken for Finn and had expected him to play a part in the series against Pakistan.

"Since's he's come back into the team this summer he's been the leader in one-day cricket then when he came into the Ashes he blew away Australia," Stokes said. "He's started off well here so for the lads who have seen him progress so well from Australia it's pretty heartbreaking. The other seam bowlers who aren't in this game could have a role to play, I think he would have been one of the first names in the hat so it's not great timing. I feel pretty sorry for him."

Finn had put himself in contention for a place in the starting XI in Abu Dhabi by taking 4 for 16 from 15 overs in the second two-day match against Pakistan A in Sharjah. He reported soreness in his foot after that match and although he bowled two days out from the Test the pain worsened.

On the morning of the Test he was wearing a moonboot and hobbling around on crutches which was a clear indication that the prognosis was not good.

Finn tweeted a picture of himself using the crutches and wrote: "Gutted to be heading home from this UAE tour. Going to have to get better at using these things, blooming hard work!"

Jordan, who somewhat curiously was due to part of the England Performance Programme batting/spin camp in Dubai next month, was part of the Test squad for the series against New Zealand earlier this year before sustaining a side injury during the one-day series which ruled him out of contention for the Ashes.

He returned to action midway through August and claimed 18 wickets in the final four Championship matches of the season although could not help Sussex avoid relegation.

In his eight Tests he has taken 21 wickets at 35.80 and scored 180 runs 18.00, although his most notable contributions have often been his stunning slip catch - especially against the spinners - which could well work in his favour given England's missed chances on the opening in Abu Dhabi when Ian Bell spilled two catches at second slip.