paceman Tim Bresnan ruled out of Pakistan series

Durham seamer Onions has taken his place in the Test squad

England will be without paceman Tim Bresnan for their forthcoming Test series against Pakistan because of injury, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) long-established on Monday.

The 26-year-old paceman, who still has pain in the elbow which was operated on in November, had already miss England's opening three-day tour match next to an ICC joint XI which they won by three wickets in the UAE on Monday.

Bresnan took 16 wickets in the three Tests he played next to India at home last year - a series which lifted Captain Andrew Strauss's men to number one in the Test rankings. An ECB statement said Bresnan's right elbow had "flared up" during his new return to bowling following surgical treatment to remove a bone section in November.

"I'm clearly gutted not to have an opportunity to play in the Test series but I knew that looking at my treatment programmed it was always going to be handle and go to get me ready for the series," said Yorkshire all-rounder Bresnan.

"I want to wish the squad all very best and the main distress for me now is to get myself ready for the one-day series in February," added Bresnan, who in his 10 Tests has taken 41 wickets at 23.60 each.

Bresnan's place in the Test squad has gone to Durham seamer Graham Onions, previously in the UAE as bowling cover.

Onions, 29, played the last of his eight Tests next to South Africa in Cape Town two years ago.

England are due to play a Pakistan Cricket Board XI in a second warm-up match, also in Dubai, from January 11-13 before the first Test of a three-match series starts there on January 17.

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Updated Cricket News: Ishant Sharma show middle finger to fans: Reports

The present tour of the Indian team to Australia is not only a tragedy from cricketing point of view but it is also turning out to be a catastrophe as far as public manners goes.

Paceman Ishant Sharma showed his middle finger to the assembled cricket fans as he the length of with his teammates, went to do go-karting at a local club, Indian television channels reported on Monday.

Quite a few Indian cricketers, as well as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and batting icon Sachin Tendulkar, went for go karting and were in fact messy to see a posse of TV cameras and media persons next them in hot trail.

Despite all attempt to keep the media out of bounds, they could have their pictures and videos much to the cricketers' annoyance. It apparently led to Sharma showing his middle finger to a heckling crowd which had also met there, the reports claimed.

It's the second time when an Indian cricketer has shown his middle finger at fans during the tour. Virat Kohli did so throughout the second Test at SCG and was fined 50 per cent of his match fees.

Indian team's media manager GS Walia said he was not conscious of any such incident.

"I am not aware of any such incident (Ishant showing the middle finger)", he said.

Walia also spring to the defence of Indian cricketers who are being roundly criticized for attending a go-karting session as a substitute of attending nets, saying it was a way of destressing.

"The team had also gone for a cycling session ahead of the Perth Test of 2007-08 and they finished up winning the Test", he said.

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