England pacer Josh Tongue is expected to miss a significant amount of Test cricket for England this summer due to a pectoral injury that has kept him out indefinitely.

An England statement said: “Josh has had a setback to his original injury. There is no timescale on when he’ll return to action.”

After making his Test debut in the summer of last year, the 26-year-old has not played since August, missing England's Test series in India as well as their white-ball tour of the Caribbean.

As he has faced a setback, the pacer now appears to be out for the majority of this summer Tests. Although England have not given a timeline for his comeback, it is expected that he will miss the season's opening Test series against the West Indies in July at the very least. It's also likely that he won't be ready for play when the team travels to Sri Lanka in late August.

Tongue is a contender to succeed departing English pacer James Anderson and is part of England's plans. Anderson has declared that his final Test appearance for the England will be against Sri Lanka at Lord's in the opening Test of the English summer.