Tongue joins Lions squad on return from injury

England fast bowler Josh Tongue will step up his return from a 15-month injury lay-off by joining the Lions on their tour of South Africa.

Tongue, who played two Tests in the summer of 2023, has not played since August of the same year because of a pectoral injury.

His comeback was delayed by a hamstring problem sustained at the end of the English season, but the Nottinghamshire man is now back bowling and will join the Lions when they travel next week.

Tongue, 27, will build up his training in South Africa with a view to possibly playing competitively on the Lions tour of Australia after Christmas.

"I should be hopefully towards my full run by the end of the South Africa tour," Tongue told BBC Sport.

Tongue made his Test debut against Ireland at Lord's then played in the Ashes Test against Australia on the same ground. He dismissed both Steve Smith and David Warner in each innings.

Highly rated by England management as one of the brightest prospects in a new crop of fast bowlers, he was given a two-year central contract in October 2023.

In his absence, the pace-bowling department of the Test team has been revolutionised. James Anderson and Stuart Broad have retired and Ollie Robinson has been dropped, giving way to the likes of Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Brydon Carse, Olly Stone and Josh Hull.

"It just shows the opportunities you can get as a young fast bowler," added Tongue.

"I know if I'm fit and firing I'm decent bowler. I showed that last year. My main focus now is to get as fit as I can, get back bowling and see what happens."

Tongue's return is another boost for England, who have been hit by a number of fast-bowling injuries.

Jamie Overton and Saqib Mahmood, who have both struggled with back injuries, have been bowling on the white-ball tour of West Indies. Hull, who made his Test debut against Sri Lanka but missed the tour of Pakistan with a quad injury, is back in training and will join the Lions in South Africa.

Dillon Pennington, part of England squads in the early part of the summer, then out with a hamstring injury since August, is also included in the Lions squad.

The Lions, led for the first time by new head coach Andrew Flintoff, are in South Africa for almost a month, spending time on white-ball training, sharing sessions with the Young Lions squad, then playing a four-day match against South Africa A.

The tour of Australia in the new year will contain three red-ball matches and form part of the build-up to the Ashes series at the end of 2025. As well as Tongue, spinners Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed will be part of the Lions squad in order to familiarise themselves with Australian conditions.

The England senior men's and women's squads both leave the UK on Saturday for their tours of New Zealand and South Africa respectively.