England in the West Indies: Captain Eoin Morgan to miss remainder of series

England captain Eoin Morgan has been ruled out of the rest of the Twenty20 series against the West Indies because of a thigh injury.

Morgan felt there was a problem while warming up ahead of Wednesday’s third Twenty20, which he skipped as a precaution, so Moeen Ali skippered England in a 20-run defeat as they fell 2-1 down in the five-match series.

A subsequent examination has highlighted a slight issue and England have elected not to risk Morgan for this weekend’s double-header, where the tourists must win both games to prevail in a hard-fought series in Barbados.

An England and Wales Cricket Board spokesperson confirmed Moeen, as Morgan’s deputy on this whistle-stop T20 tour, will lead the side on Saturday and Sunday.

An ECB statement read: “England men’s captain Eoin Morgan will miss the final two matches of the international Twenty20 series against the West Indies with a low-grade quadriceps injury.

“Morgan sat out the third T20 in Barbados on Wednesday night after he felt pain in his right quad during the warm-up.

“Follow-up testing revealed he sustained a right thigh muscle injury which, whilst relatively minor, will prevent him from playing further games during the current tour.”

In more welcome news for England, Liam Livingstone is expected to be OK for the penultimate T20 having been briefly treated for acid reflux while batting on Wednesday in his comeback from oesophagitis.