England had an injury scare to contend with on the eve of the opening Test against India when Jos Buttler was called up on Tuesday as cover for wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
Prior suffered a thigh injury while training on Monday, but was set to take a full part in Tuesday’s practice at Trent Bridge ahead of the first of a five-match series which starts on Wednesday at the Nottingham ground.
The England and Wales Cricket Board said on Twitter: “Jos Buttler called into the England squad as cover for Matt Prior, who experienced some mild tightness in his right thigh yesterday (Monday). “… will continue to be assessed during training before a decision is made about his fitness for the 1st Investec Test.”
Prior had been struggling with achilles problems ahead of the recent two-Test series at home to Sri Lanka, which England lost 1-0.
Before that series, there had been calls for Lancashire gloveman Buttler – aged 23 and nine years younger than Prior – to be given a Test debut after he’d impressed for England during the preceding one-dayers against Sri Lanka which included his 121 off 74 balls at Lord’s.
But the player and England management said he needed to become more consistent with bat and gloves in first-class cricket before he could get a Test chance.
So far this season in the county championship, Buttler has scored 491 runs at 40.91 with one hundred and four 50s.
Prior was recalled to the Test side for the Sri Lankan series after being dropped following the third Test against Australia in Perth.
He made 86 in the first innings at Lord’s but struggled behind the stumps in the second Test at Headingley, where Sri Lanka won by 100 runs to claim their first series victory on English soil.