English cricketer Rory Burns has revealed that he will not play football again until his days as a professional cricketer are over. Burns sustained ligament damage in his left ankle during a kickabout with team-mates ahead of the second Test against South Africa in January and was forced to undergo surgery. "It's taken four months out of a career and the stage I had got myself to where I was playing quite nicely," said Burns. "So while I am still a professional cricketer I probably won't play football again. 

Burns has amassed 979 runs in his 15 Test appearances having just established himself in the team Burns, made two Test centuries since August and at least one half-century in four of his previous five Tests. Ashley Giles, the director of England cricket, had long been against football but was initially reluctant to change things when taking the job in late 2018 for fear of upsetting World Cup preparations. Trevor Bayliss, the former England coach, was never enamoured but accepted its benefits as a physical workout and team-bonding exercise.

"I know what I need to do. You get judged on your output, so I need to get back for the start of the season, score runs for Surrey, tick all my captaincy boxes there and that will lead to hopefully getting my chance back in the Test arena," he said."You're never as good as you think you are when you're doing well and you're never as bad as you think you are when you're not."You're always somewhere in the middle and you just bounce along. It's remembering that. Sticking to the fundamentals of what works for you."said, Burns.