Silverwood joins England's tale of injury woes

PERTH, Nov 30 AAP - Luckless England has another cricketer in its Ashes casualty ward, with paceman Chris Silverwood ruled out of the third Test in Perth after bowling just four overs.

Silverwood damaged ligaments in his left ankle last night, leaving another depleted England team to fight Steve Waugh's Australians.

The 27-year-old was only called into the tour party as a replacement for Simon Jones, who was sent home with a knee injury after bowling just seven overs in the first Test.

Seven England players have now missed Test action because of injury, just when the tourists needed everything to go their way to have any hope of avoiding their eighth successive Ashes series loss.

"To say I'm frustrated is a massive understatement," Silverwood said.

"I've waited a long time to get back into the Test side and really wanted to make an impact in this game.

"I just felt something go in the ankle on impact in the second ball of my second over.

"I decided to stay on but the pain just got worse - it was hurting when I threw out Justin Langer from the boundary."

England selectors had yet to decide whether Silverwood would leave the tour squad, with a three-week break before the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

The tourists are sweating on spinner Ashley Giles recovering from a broken wrist before the final two Tests, along with batsman John Crawley (hip injury) and paceman Andrew Caddick (back).