ENGLAND have indicated their concerns about Ashley Giles' troublesome hip injury by calling up Worcestershire's Gareth Batty as cover for the first npower Test against Bangladesh on Thursday.

Giles' troublesome injury, which first flared up a fortnight ago during Warwickshire's match against Sussex at Hove, has been consistently dismissed as nothing more than a minor concern by England's selectors.

But it was serious enough for the Droitwich-based spinner to have a cortisone injection last week, which was supposed to accelerate the healing process.

Officially England are still dismissing any grounds for concern with chairman of selectors David Graveney stressing: "Ashley's fitness will be re-assessed by the England medical team when the Test squad reports for practice and Gareth has been added to the squad as a precautionary measure."

That could prove to be the case, with the experienced Giles desperate to maintain his place in England's victorious line-up having featured in the last 12 successive Test matches.

That run prevented Batty playing a single Test during the winter series in South Africa.