England's Ashes tour has taken another turn for the worse with fast bowler Jake Ball spraining an ankle in the game against a Cricket Australia XI on Thursday.
Ball hobbled off Adelaide Oval after rolling his right ankle when bowling on day two of the four-day fixture.
His injury came as Australia's forgotten man Tim Paine struck a half-century - the CA XI posted 9(dec)-233 in reply to England's first innings of 293.
The tourists were 0-5 in their second dig at stumps.
Paine has failed to crack a berth in Tasmania's Sheffield Shield side this season because of Test incumbent wicketkeeper Matthew Wade's move to the state.
But Paine struck a polished 52 on Thursday, combining with Matt Short (45) to rescue the CA XI from a precarious 5-57.
Paine's knock was overshadowed by the pain of England's Ball, a contender to play in the first Test against Australia starting November 23.
Ball twisted an ankle in his delivery stride, creating more concern for England who have just sent home paceman Steven Finn because of a knee injury.
Seamer Tom Curran is due to arrive on Friday in Australia after being summoned as a replacement.
The tourists also are planning to be without allrounder and fellow quick bowling option Ben Stokes for the looming Test series. He remains in England awaiting the outcome of a police investigation after a street fight in Bristol.
While England hoped the injury to the 26-year-old Ball was not overly serious, he has only 14 days to recover before the Ashes opener.
Ball is considered a potential starter in the first Test in a four-pronged English pace attack featuring Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and allrounder Chris Woakes.
Ball has played three Tests since his debut in July last year, taking only two wickets at the unflattering average of 114.
But the tourists believe the Nottinghamshire quick, at 197cm-tall, will extract added bounce on Australian pitches.
Ball had already taken a wicket when he was hurt in his fourth over, though England had little trouble ripping through the CA XI top order.
The hosts lost 5-36 before Paine and Short's 86-run partnership for the sixth wicket, with an aggressive Simon Milenko (50 from 58 balls) boosting the total.
English pacemen Anderson and Woakes took two wickets each while legspinner Mason Crane claimed 3-78.
