England running out of bowlers due to injury ahead of World Cup

London, Jan 31 (ANI): England's list of injured bowlers has started to reach alarming proportions with the World Cup only three weeks away.

Ajmal Shahzad became the fourth member of England's World Cup bowling attack to to return home with a damaged hamstring in the fifth one-day international.

To make matters worse, Chris Tremlett, one of the bowlers on stand-by for the tournament, missed the fifth ODI with a side strain, the Daily Express reports.

Four of the five bowlers England would ideally like to have played in their opening World Cup match against the Netherlands in Nagpur on February 22 are nursing injuries.

Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan have already been sent home to recover from back and calf injuries respectively. Both are unlikely to be ready to return for the Netherlands game.

The fourth, Stuart Broad, is training with the squad, but has yet to bowl in competition since he tore an abdominal muscle in early December and will not be risked in the final two matches against Australia.

"We are beginning to run out of bowlers now. We are going to have to take stock and assess the situation," said skipper Andrew Strauss. (ANI)