Overton has been diagnosed with a lower-back stress fracture, which he picked up in Surrey’s Championship fixture against Somerset last month. His availability last summer was limited by another stress fracture in his back, which ruled him out of action for the early part of the domestic season, and for the international summer.

Before his latest injury, Overton was reportedly in the running for a place in England’s T20 World Cup squad, with Rob Key saying the allrounder was “desperately unlucky” to miss out on the 15-player group. Overton played his only Test match at Headingley in 2022 and was an unused squad member during England’s series in Pakistan in December 2022.

A Surrey spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo that there is currently “no timeline” for Overton’s return to action.

With the announcement of James Anderson’s retirement following the first Test of the summer against the West Indies and England facing their first home summer since Stuart Broad’s retirement, Overton’s injury is another blow to their pace-bowling options. Josh Tongue has already been ruled out of the West Indies series, while Jofra Archer will not be ready for Test match action until at least next summer.

Matthew Potts and Saqib Mahmood have both featured for their counties during the first part of the season with Mahmood returning from a long absence due to multiple stress fractures of his own.