Finn ruled out with foot injury

Steven Finn has been ruled out of the first Test against Pakistan with a "bone stress injury" to his left foot.

Finn reported soreness after England's second warm-up match against Pakistan A in Sharjah in which he claimed 4 for 16 in 15 overs to put himself firmly in contention for Abu Dhabi. He bowled in training on Sunday but overnight the pain became worse.

Alastair Cook confirmed he had "absolutely" been in the frame for the final XI for tomorrow's first Test. With James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes all certain to feature, Finn and Mark Wood had been in a head-to-head for the last pace-bowling slot.

After months of well-documented problems with his bowling action, Finn returned to the Test side against Australia at Edgbaston where he claimed 6 for 79 to help England claim a 2-1 lead in the Ashes. Although England hope to have him available later in the series, the compressed nature of the matches must make that unlikely. More realistically, as one of a handful of players who is part of all three formats, he will be targetting full fitness in time for next month's ODI and T20 legs of the tour.

"It's a bitter blow for him, he bowled really well in that warm-up game and over the last 12 months he has made huge strides back to where we'd like him to be," Cook said. "We'll monitor him over the next period of time and hopefully he could be right or the second Test but we'll have to wait and see."

Finn's absence firms up England's attack for the opening Test with Wood, who impressed in the first warm-up match, completing a six-man unit which will include Adil Rashid on debut.

Rashid, who took three wickets in the second two-day match, will follow in the footsteps of Ian Salisbury, Chris Schofield and Scott Borthwick to become England's fourth Test legspinner since 1971, when Robin Hobbs played the last of his seven matches. His debut had been earmarked even before the tour began with coach Trevor Bayliss, who is keen on a twin-spin attack, giving Rashid the encouragement to be an attacking bowler.

"Adil's made really good strides since the West Indies tour," Cook said. "He has his one-day experience and is feeling a bit more comfortable around the group. It's a tough art to master, but he's got over 400 first-class wickets, so he can definitely bowl. I know he's looking forward to his opportunity. Yes, there can be some bad balls along the way, but he can also bowl some jaffas."

While it was also confirmed that Moeen Ali will open the batting, Cook did not cement the full XI although the likely outcome is Jonny Bairstow retained at No. 5 with Jos Buttler keeping hold of the wicketkeeper's position.

"We've got a lot of tough selection calls to make," Cook said. "A lot of people are pushing and it's made my and Trevor's job very hard to get the right XI."

Cook added that James Taylor was "doing all he can" to force his way into the side after making an unbeaten 61 against Pakistan A to follow up his productive one-day series against Australia which helped earn him a spot for this tour.

"He's been brilliant since he's come back into the one-day side. A lot of people said because of his size he couldn't play the short-pitched bowling or the quick bowling. He's also a really good player of spin. That's what we want - people pushing for selection, but you've also got to respect the guys who have done a good job as well in the team."