Onions ruled out for three months

Graham Onions has been ruled out for up to three months due to a back injury.

The Durham paceman has been out of action since he was forced to return home from England's tour of Bangladesh with the injury in March.

The 27-year-old underwent scans on his back earlier this week, which confirmed the extent of the damage that effectively rules him out of the international summer.

Onions had seen a spinal specialist to get to the bottom of the problem, and the latest scans confirmed he had an ongoing bone stress reaction in his back.

After being advised the rehabilitation period for the injury is 12 weeks, Onions also decided to also undergo surgery yesterday at a London hospital to repair cartilage in the front of his left knee.

Onions only made his Test debut against the West Indies last May, but will now miss the upcoming series against Bangladesh and Pakistan

"I am naturally incredibly disappointed to miss the bulk of the domestic season and am still hopeful that with rest I can be back on the field nearer to the end of the summer," Onions said.

"The ECB medical team has been very supportive and all I can do is be patient, work hard on my rehabilitation programme and focus on my number one goal which is to be fully fit and available for selection for the Ashes tour to Australia."

Onions' Durham coach Geoff Cook described the injury as an "minor tragedy" for the player and England.

"This time last year he was picking up wickets every time ball he got the ball in his hand," he told Sky Sports 2.

"He deservedly earned a call-up to the England team on the back of that and then he played a key role in the Ashes win last summer.

"It's a minor tragedy for him. It is for England cricket generally,

"It's taken a while to get to the bottom of the problem.

"He had been to-ing and fro-ing from clinic to clinic. He went to a major scanner in London and it looks like that has finally detected the source of the problem."