DHAKA, (Reuters) – England drafted Chris Tremlett into their World Cup squad today and were given a boost by an upbeat Eoin Morgan after their preparations had been thrown into disarray by injuries to two key players this week.
Tremlett, replacing Stuart Broad who pulled out on Tuesday with a side strain, will be in line to play in Friday’s Group B clash with Bangladesh providing his inclusion is approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
He was widely expected to step into the breach after Broad’s exit and an England team spokesman confirmed to Reuters that the party had officially sought the ICC go-ahead to bring the squad back to full complement.
Earlier, batsman Morgan had spoken to a news conference about his excitement at joining the England campaign after Monday’s decision of makeshift opener Kevin Pietersen to withdraw with an increasingly painful hernia.
“Personally I don’t feel that undercooked or underprepared. I feel very fresh and over the next couple of days my preparation will be similar to how it has been in the past and I feel ready,” Morgan said.
Irish-born Morgan has made a dramatic impact in the England set-up batting in the middle order but he was forced to pull out of the original squad with a broken finger suffered in the 6-1 ODI series defeat in Australia earlier this year.
“I got the injury in the Adelaide (one-day) game. At the time I didn’t feel it very much and thought I would be fit enough to bat and field but as it went on the injury felt worse and it turned out I had broken the finger,” he said.
“When I came back, the first day I arrived in London I saw a specialist. His diagnosis was that I would need an operation but wanted to wait a week to see if it would progress and heal.
“After a week he changed his diagnosis and from there it healed up quite nicely. It is pretty strong at the moment.”
Morgan’s arrival still leaves England with a problem over how they will replace Pietersen as opener but filling the huge hole left by Broad may prove the bigger problem.
The 24-year-old has been comfortably England’s most influential bowler so far, despite missing the tied game with India in Bangalore, and his late innings bowling against South Africa in which he finished with 4-15 proved to be decisive in his team’s win.
However, Tremlett proved a very adequate replacement for Broad in the 3-1 Ashes series win at the turn of the year and his extra bounce thanks to his exceptional height — he is 6ft 8in (2.03 metres) — could prove very useful for a side which had been struggling for much of the event with the ball.
