England seamer Josh Tongue could miss a significant portion of the home summer after suffering a setback with a pectoral injury.
The 26-year-old, who made his Test debut last summer, has not played since August, missing England’s white-ball tour of the Caribbean and the Test series in India.
An England statement said: “Josh has had a setback to his original injury. There is no timescale on when he’ll return to action.”
Tongue’s injury is a blow to England’s planning for life after the retirement of James Anderson.
The 41-year-old, England’s all-time leading wicket-taker, will retire after the first Test against West Indies at Lord’s on 10 July.
As one of the centrally contracted fast bowlers, Tongue would have been in line to benefit from Anderson’s exit.
Tongue made his England debut against Ireland in June last year and impressed sufficiently to play in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s. He has taken 10 wickets in his two matches.
He made the move from Worcestershire to Nottinghamshire over the winter but is yet to play for his new county.
Other contracted fast bowlers likely to form England’s pace attack post-Anderson are Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Matthew Potts, Gus Atkinson and possibly Ollie Robinson.
Speaking to the Test Match Special County Cricket podcast last week, England managing director Rob Key also mentioned Tongue’s Notts’ team-mates Dillon Pennington and Olly Stone, as well as Essex’s Sam Cook.