Roland-Jones out of Ashes contention

England seamer Toby Roland-Jones is all but out of England's Ashes tour of Australia, after his county Middlesex announced Friday a stress fracture of the back will rule him out of the rest of the domestic season.

The 29-year-old has enjoyed a successful start to his international career, taking eight wickets on Test debut against South Africa at The Oval in July.

"Middlesex Cricket are extremely disappointed to announce that the result of the medical scan which Toby undertook yesterday (Thursday) has revealed that he has a stress fracture in his L5 vertebra (lower back), which will mean that he will take no further part in the domestic season for Middlesex," said a statement.

Roland-Jones – who spearheaded Middlesex's championship-winning campaign last season – has taken 17 wickets in four Tests at an average of 19.64.

England will announce their Ashes squad on Wednesday, with the first Test starting in Brisbane on November 23, and the paceman's expected recovery time is marked at somewhere from 6-12 weeks.

Roland-Jones' absence paves the way for either his county teammate Steve Finn or Nottinghamshire's Jake Ball to join Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes in the squad, while speedster Mark Wood is another on the injured list, as he struggles with an ongoing heel problem.

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