Further surgery for Zafar Ansari

Zafar Ansari, the Surrey allrounder who missed out on a maiden England tour due to a broken thumb sustained on the day he was called up, has undergone another minor operation on his thumb ahead of the new season.

Ansari was included in England's Test squad for the series against Pakistan in the UAE, but just a matter of hours after the news he badly damaged his thumb in the field against Lancashire. Given that Samit Patel, who was named as his replacement, played the final Test in Sharjah - and then toured South Africa - there is every likelihood that Ansari missed a Test debut.

"This operation was designed to help with the healing process and is related to the bottom joint of his thumb - which had been damaged previously and exacerbated by the incident at Old Trafford - not the top one, which he suffered an open dislocation of," Surrey said on their website.

Meanwhile, they also announced that Jade Dernbach would miss the start of the season due a stress fracture of the back sustained while playing overseas. Dernbach had a spell playing T20 in New Zealand before returning for assessment on his back.

"Jade has already started his rehabilitation programme and will undergo another scan in a fortnight's time to further assess the healing process," the club said. "Once it has been determined that the fracture has healed, Jade will begin a separate period of cricket rehabilitation with a view to being available later in the season."

Freddie van den Bergh, the left-arm spinner, is also on the injury list with a damaged thumb picked up playing club cricket in Australia and faces four to six weeks with the thumb splinted before further rehab ahead of a return to cricket.