England ban football warm-ups after Rory Burns injury

Ashley Giles, the director of England’s men’s teams, has never made any secret of his disapproval of his side playing football. And, after Rory Burns became the latest player to sustain a football-related injury, Giles and Chris Silverwood, the England coach, have decided to ban the activity.

Burns suffered serious ligament damage to his ankle after landing awkwardly while playing football as a warm-up to training on Thursday. He was subsequently ruled out of the rest of the series in South Africa and will fly back to England on Friday night. Jonny Bairstow also suffered a football-related injury in Sri Lanka at the end of 2018 while, in the past, Joe Denly and James Anderson have also been hurt playing the game.

Giles said when he took the job that he was unhappy to see football as part of England’s warm-up. But he was persuaded by senior players that it was an important part of the bonding process of the squad and agreed to review it once the World Cup had finished. The injury to Burns appears to have strengthened his resolve.