Blackwell latest injury fear for England

The England team might have got a first win under their belts on the tour of Australia, but that convincing victory over Sri Lanka in Brisbane has not signalled the end of all their troubles. Ian Blackwell has become the latest injury victim after being hit on the hand when facing Steve Harmison in the Perth nets while preparing for the next match against Sri Lanka in the VB Series.

It was Harmison who struck Ashley Giles on the wrist, causing the fracture that put the left-arm spinner out of the tour. Blackwell, who has taken over the left-arm spinning duties from Giles in the one-day team, took a blow on his left hand and was immediately sent to the local hospital for an X-ray. Much to the relief of the England party - and Blackwell - there is no evidence of a break.

Blackwell has made a thoroughly favourable impression since coming into the side and has been one of the few to enhance his reputation in Australia. However, the fact that he has been hit on his bowling hand might mean that he stands down from the match against Sri Lanka tomorrow with Adam Hollioake favourite to make his first appearance since joining the squad as a replacement for Andrew Flintoff.

England physiotherapist Dean Conway was reasonably reassuring about Blackwell's condition. "He didn't think it was as bad as he first thought anyway, but he went off to the hospital for an X-ray just to check on the knuckle on his index finger to see if that was alright."

Paul Collingwood, who is used to facing Harmison in practice as a Durham colleague, was also forced to duck and dive on net surfaces at the WACA by his team-mate.

"These pitches are quick and bouncy and in an enclosed net like that it can sometimes feel a bit claustrophobic and a bit quicker than it does out in the middle," he said.

"It's very hard to hook and pull in the nets and you can get caught in two minds what to do, and unfortunately for Ian he took one on the hand, but we're hopeful he'll be alright.

"You expect the bowlers to come in at you in the nets, it's just like a batsman trying to hit the bowler as hard as he can - you expect that.

"It's fast out in the middle so we have to work at it because we're going to get bouncers in the game tomorrow and we're going to have to have a plan of how to deal with it."

Harmison made his one-day international debut in Brisbane and proved to be far more effective than critics of his fast but sometimes wayward bowling predicted. He took two for 39 from ten hostile overs and is likely to be even more of a handful for the Sri Lankan batsmen on a pitch in Perth renowned as being one of the quickest in the world.