Jamie Overton suffers stress fracture to the back; unlikely to partake in 2023 Ashes 

England fast bowler Jamie Overton is unlikely to bowl for a significant while after reportedly suffering from a lumbar stress fracture. He reported pain in his back towards the end of the English summer, where he made his debut against New Zealand and represented Surrey in the County Championship.

Overton scored a memorable 97 with the bat in his maiden innings and claimed two wickets as England compiled a seven-wicket win to finish the series as winners by a 3-0 margin.

His latest appearance came with the England Lions against the England national side in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on November 23 last year, before the Ben Stokes-led side departed for the tour of Pakistan.

He was in the Middle East, all set to represent the Gulf Giants in the ongoing inaugural edition of the International League T20 (ILT20). However, he has returned home after being diagnosed and is currently conferring with specialists over the nature of the injury and the course of recovery. The UAE-based franchise has already named West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite as a replacement player.

The nature of the injury will likely restrict him from bowling for around six months. Due to his batting credentials, he could feature as a pure batter in the shortest format after a certain stage in his rehabilitation process.

However, the injury almost quashes his hopes of featuring in the 2023 Ashes, which begins on June 16. England are unlikely to pick him if he is unable to feature completely as an all-rounder.

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Stress fractures are becoming a common sight among English bowlers with Jamie Overton being the latest casualty

Since the start of last year, several English players have been ruled out due to a stress fracture in the back. Olly Stone, Jofra Archer, Saqib Mahmood, and Matt Fisher were all sidelined due to the same injury at some point in 2022.

England fielded a depleted pace attack for the tour of Pakistan, even taking the subcontinent conditions into factor. James Anderson and Ollie Robinson bowled the bulk of the overs with skipper Ben Stokes acting as the third seamer. Stuart Broad was unavailable due to paternity leave.

Even if Jamie Overton finds a way to recover in time, he will find it hard to break into the squad, given that the injury issues have almost cleared up among the pacers.

Jofra Archer and Olly Stone are currently playing in the SA20 League while Broad will be back from his leave. That leaves England spoilt for choice for the Ashes in six months' time.

Will Jamie Overton feature in the squad for Ashes 2023? Let us know what you think.

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