Finger injury rules Aiden Markram out of Test series against England

SA’s opening batsman Aiden Markram has been ruled out of the remainder of the Test series against England after sustaining a finger injury.

Markram‚ who has only scored 22 runs in his two Boxing Day Test innings‚ sustained a fracture to his fourth left finger which requires surgery.

He is expected to be out of action for about six weeks and is scheduled to go under the knife early next week.

The injury took place during day two of the Test match that is currently underway at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Cricket South Africa chief medical officer Dr Shuaib Manjra confirmed the news on Saturday.

“Aiden sustained a fracture affecting the distal joint of his left ring finger‚” Manjra said in a statement.

“After consulting with a number of hand specialists (on Friday) we arrived at a decision that the best outcome would be achieved through surgical reduction and fixation.

"This would mean him unfortunately missing the rest of the series against England.

"We feel for Aiden who worked extremely hard to come through his previous hand fracture sustained in India to be Test match ready.”

Meanwhile‚ England team management confirmed before the start of day three on Saturday that wicket-keeper Jos Buttler is unwell and his place has been taken by Johnny Bairstow for the morning session.

In other news from the visitors' camp‚ Jack Leach‚ Chris Woakes and Mark Wood remain in quarantine at the team hotel together with security manager Sam Dickason and digital manager Greg Stobart.

On the positive side‚ Ollie Pope has recovered from the sickness bug and is scheduled to train at SuperSport Park on Saturday.