Ashes 2017: England suffer double injury scare as Moeen Ali and Steven Finn pick up knocks ahead of first tour match

England have suffered an injury scare just four days into their Ashes campaign after Moeen Ali was ruled out of training on Thursday with a suspected side strain.

Steven Finn also sustained a jarred left knee batting in the nets at Richardson Park in Perth, although the fast bowler’s fitness will not be as much of a concern as Moeen’s.

Both players will undergo scans on Friday and miss England’s opening two-day tour match against a Western Australia XI that starts the following day.

With three weeks to go until the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, England are not overly worried at this stage about Moeen’s fitness.

But losing another key all-rounder even for part of the series would be a major blow to the hopes of Joe Root’s team given Ben Stokes is already absent from this tour thanks to the ongoing police investigation into his late-night altercation in Bristol in September.

England are already effectively having to try and replace two players in Stokes, such is the Durham all-rounder’s significance to the team.

Losing Moeen would compound that problem and even if his injury is only minor, the tourists may be tempted to bring in a batsman as cover. If that was to happen, Essex’s Tom Westley, travelling out to Australia with the England Lions later this month, would be the man most likely to be added to the squad.

In terms of Finn, if the results of his scan prove worse than feared another England Lion in Mark Wood could also find himself brought into the squad.

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Meanwhile, Mark Stoneman is hopeful that Stokes, his former Durham team-mate, will still be able to join England’s Ashes tour at some point even though coach Trevor Bayliss admitted on Wednesday that he had written off the 26-year-old’s chances of playing against Australia.

The opener, who spent six years playing alongside Stokes at Durham before moving to Surrey last summer, said: “Ben’s a massive miss. It’s a massive miss for him, but also for the team – it’s very unfortunate the way things panned out.

“He’s a fantastic guy, and it was tough to see the events that happened. But obviously, things are still unfolding back home – how it will pan out with the police investigation. It would be great if we could have him here at some point.”

Stoneman, who met his Australian wife Serene while playing grade cricket in Sydney nine years ago, is also looking forward to the challenge of playing in the Ashes.

He said: “It’s up there with the toughest challenges in the world, against the new ball in Australia, with the quick bowlers they’ve had through their history. It’ll be a fantastic challenge and something, I hope, I can stand up to.

“The wife is definitely backing me and England. The in-laws want to see me do well, but I’m sure they’ll be keen for Australia to do well too. It’s a little bit of a mix, but more often than not they’ll be backing the side I’m playing for.”

As for the potential sledging he may face from the Australians this winter, Stoneman, who made his debut in the home series against West Indies last summer, said: “I don't think it just lends itself to Test cricket. I think Aussies in general, if they get an Englishman in front of them, they’re keen to have a bit of a chirp.

“It should be good fun – I’m quite looking forward to it, see what the sledgers have got for us.”