YOUNG pace ace George Scrimshaw is making encouraging progress after a lower back injury and is being earmarked for a return to second team cricket in June.
Scrimshaw, who was part of the ECB Pace Programme this winter, is undergoing strength and conditioning work and has been able to undergo running and early bowling drills pain free.
If all goes to plan the 20-year-old will then look to build up his bowling workload during the next month with a view to then making a return to action.
Burton-born Scrimshaw was called up by England Under-19s in 2016 only to have to withdraw with a toe injury but was part of the Young Lions training camp in the UAE that winter.
He signed a new three year contract last May and made his first team breakthrough by playing in four T20 Blast games against Northamptonshire, Durham, Nottinghamshire and Derby.
Head of science and medicine, Ben Davies, said: “George has settled down really nicely following a bit of an aggravation of his lower back.
“He has been back to running this week pain free and actually did some walking bowling drills this week, again pain free.
“Over the next four or five weeks we will be looking to build up his bowling and running workload and just getting him up to scratch so he can bowl in games again.
“Hopefully we will be looking for him to play some second team cricket in June and just build him up through that and get him available for first team cricket really.
“He went away with the Pace Programme and when he came back to us and got into full intensity bowling in Abu Dhabi he just had a bit of pain in his lower back, but it has settled quite quickly so we can get him going again.”
Left-armer Jack Shantry has undergone a couple of scans and seen a specialist after feeling soreness in his lower back during the pre-season one-day warm-up game with Somerset at Taunton.
The 30-year-old has been unable to play any competitive cricket so far during the current campaign but it is hoped a series of injections will settle down the problem.
