England had injury worries over Steven Finn and Moeen Ali Getty Images

George Dobell in Adelaide :

Steven Finn has been ruled out of the Ashes due to a knee injury. Finn sustained the injury when batting in the nets in Perth on the first day of middle practice. He was given an injection a couple of days ago but the injury, which has now been diagnosed as torn cartilage in his left knee, has failed to improve as hoped.

Finn will return to England in the next 48 hours where he will seek the advice of a knee specialist to ascertain whether he will require an operation.

While no decision has yet been made about possible replacements Tom Curran, Tom Helm and Liam Plunkett would appear to be the favourites for a call-up. Neither Helm nor Curran have played Test cricket, though Helm was named in the Lions squad that is due to arrive in Brisbane on November 15. It is understood Mark Wood is still not considered fully fit.

The news is a cruel setback for Finn. Sent home early from the 2013-14 winter tour of Australia having been deemed "unselectable", the series offered an opportunity for redemption. He was also dropped midway through the 2010-11 Ashes series.

England were already without Ben Stokes. Finn was named as his replacement in the squad following Stokes' arrest after an incident in Bristol and Toby Roland-Jones, who was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his back.

Meanwhile England trained with a pink ball in Adelaide on Tuesday ahead of their maiden first-class match of the tour, starting on Wednesday. They have decided to limit the workload of their main seamers so Stuart Broad will miss the game - he is fully fit and bowled at full pace in the nets - and James Anderson will play but then sit-out next week's game in Townsville.

As a result, Jake Ball and Craig Overton will go head to head in competition for the position of fourth seamer in Brisbane - Ball is very much in pole position following the match in Perth - and Mason Crane will have another chance to impress as the side's only specialist spinner.

Selection for the match against a Cricket Australia XI also confirms that James Vince will bat at No. 3 in the first Test in Brisbane and that Dawid Malan will bat at No. 5. Gary Ballance and Ben Foakes find themselves on the sidelines.

England team to play Cricket Australia XI: 1. Alastair Cook 2. Mark Stoneman 3. James Vince 4. Joe Root (capt) 5. Dawid Malan 6. Jonny Bairstow (wk) 7. Chris Woakes 8. Jamie Overton 9. Jake Ball 10. Mason Crane 11. James Anderson

The eights and nines who made tons

Clem Hill made a hundred from No. 9 for Australia in 1908, gastric flu and all Getty Images

Steven Lynch :

How often have numbers eight and nine in the batting order both scored centuries in the same Test innings, like Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich?asked Savo Ceprnich from South Africa
The achievement of Shane Dowrich (103) and Jason Holder (110) in Bulawayo last week, when they scored centuries from eight and nine in the batting order against Zimbabwe, had been replicated only once before in a Test match. That was back in 1907-08, when Roger Hartigan (116) and Clem Hill (160) shared a match-changing partnership of 243 for Australia against England in Adelaide. Hill usually batted much higher than No. 9, but had been ill: "I was suffering acutely from gastric influenza," he wrote. "On the Tuesday I was feeling a little better, so I went along to the Oval The doctor had given me some tablets to take. I don't know what they contained but they enabled me to keep going. I was ill many times on the field. It was very hot weather, the temperature reaching as high as 111 [43.8 C]. When play ended for the day it was 105 and I was 106." Hill had gone in with Australia only 102 ahead at 180 for 7, but his partnership with Hartigan - who was making his Test debut, and won only one more cap - completely turned round a Test which Australia eventually won by 245 runs.

For more on the Dowrich-Holder partnership, click here.

Afghanistan and Ireland were given Test status earlier this year, but they haven't played any Test matches yet. When will they start? asked Mithun Mohammad from Pakistan
Cricket Ireland recently announced that their first Test match would be against Pakistan in May 2018, probably in Dublin. It will be the first time Pakistan have been involved in a country's inaugural Test since their own, against India in Delhi in 1952-53.