Ollie Robinson suffers fresh fitness setback to hit England comeback hopes

The England and Sussex seamer has withdrawn was from the County Select XI to face New Zealand at Chelmsford after feeling back stiffness during the warm-up

Ollie Robinson's hopes of proving his fitness for the New Zealand Test series has suffered another setback.

The England and Sussex seamer was due to feature for a County Select XI against the Kiwis at Chelmsford this week starting on Thursday (May 26)

But he has been withdrawn from the four-day match, which does not have first-class status, as a precaution after he felt stiffness in his back during the warm-up.

Middlesex's Ethan Bamber has been called up as a replacement but was not named in the playing XI.

It is the latest setback for Robinson, whose progress has been hindered by a succession of issues.

(Getty Images)

He was called out publicly by England bowling coach Jon Lewis during the Ashes and was asked to work harder on his fitness.

But back problems surfaced during a tour match in the West Indies forced him to miss the entire three-Test series.

He missed Sussex's first four LV= Insurance County Championship matches in April - largely due to a tooth infection - returning against Middlesex and Leicestershire, where he suffered from food poisoning.

Despite being left out of the squad for the first Test at Lord's he got through 18 overs in a tour match against New Zealanders at Hove and was set to take another step towards selection this week.

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