England injury woes deepen as Paul Collingwood flies home

England's injury-riddled end to their tour of Australia continued yesterday after Paul Collingwood became the fifth player forced to leave early. Collingwood suffered a back spasm while batting in Wednesday's two-wicket defeat in the sixth one-day international in Sydney, and after treatment yesterday was ruled out of Sunday's final match of the series in Perth.

With the series already lost - England trail 5-1 - it was decided to allow Collingwood to immediately return home as his wife is due to give birth next week. The 34-year-old is expected to recover in time for England's departure for the World Cup on 12 February.

Meanwhile, a cricket official in charge of the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, India has described Wednesday's wall collapse at the World Cup venue as a "minor" incident.

Hundreds of fans had queued up outside the ground to buy tickets for matches due to take place at the stadium, where England are set to play two group stage matches, when a recently-renovated section of the periphery gave way due to crowd pressure. Two people were reportedly injured in the collapse.

"The wall is at the periphery of the stadium and a small portion of it collapsed when fans pressed against it. It was a minor incident," said Tamil Nadu Cricket Association secretary KS Viswanathan.