Mullally pulls out of Test squad with thigh strain

Alan Mullally has been withdrawn from the England Test squad for Headingley after he pulled a thigh muscle last week while playing for Hampshire.

Selected last Sunday to play in the fourth Cornhill Insurance Test match against West Indies at Leeds, Mullally, who is in the form of his life with 23 championship wickets from two matches, was pulled out earlier today after a call to England's management by the Hampshire physiotherapist David Newman.

"He has bowled 160 overs in a week for Hampshire and they considered he was not fit enough to be considered," said David Graveney, England's chairman of selectors.

"It is disappointing for him more than anyone else but it is one of those things."

Selectors will meet tonight to decide whether they need to replace Mullally but with Yorkshire's Matthew Hoggard already in the squad and with a stated policy to play seven batsmen and four seamers, it is unlikely a substitute will be sought.

"We wanted Alan here as an option but after looking at the wicket it is probably unlikely he would have played.

"As for Hoggard, we will decide nearer the time. He will be playing in front of his home crowd and he has taken a lot of wickets here so we would not have any problems if he had to play," Graveney said.