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Ealham out of Abu Dhabi tour

Preparations for the Lashings World XI's tour to Abu Dhabi suffered something of a setback today as Kent, Nottinghamshire and England all-rounder Mark Ealham announced that he would have to pull out of the tour.

Ealham, already a veteran of the Lashings World XI tour to Jamaica in December 2006 as well as 8 Tests and 64 One Day Internationals, has damaged his knee during a pre-season training session and early indications are that it won't threaten his county season with Notts, however he will be out of action for about a month, which puts paid to this particular tour.

lashings.com caught up with Mark when we heard the news, and asked him about his injury. "I'm not entirely sure what's gone wrong just yet, I have to go and see the Nottinghamshire physio tomorrow for a full assessment, but I reckon I've just tweaked a ligament, which will obviously take a while to heal."

"I'm absolutely gutted though, I've been looking forward to this trip all winter - but even if i've just strained something it's too close to the tour to be able to take the risk of playing, so I've had to stand down. Still, I guess that's what you have to deal with when you have a body that rejects pre-season training!"

There are currently no plans to replace Ealham in the Lashings World XI lineup though - manager Alvin Kallicharran said "Although we'd have liked Mark with us, I think we'll cope without him! This looks like a seriously strong team to me, and I'm certainly looking forward to taking the Lashings World XI out to Abu Dhabi - hopefully it'll be the first of many visits."

Ealham's exit from the squad means that the revised Lashings World XI lineup looks as follows:

Chris Harris (NZ) (Captain)

Alvin Kallicharran (WI) (Manager)

Russel Arnold (SL)

Marvan Atapattu (SL)

Chris Cairns (NZ)

Dominic Cork (ENG)

Grant Flower (ZIM)

Ed Giddins (ENG)

Murray Goodwin (ZIM)

Graeme Hick (ENG)

Adam Hollioake (ENG)