ENGLAND captain Alastair Cook saw one of his firstchoice seamers ruled out of the Bangladesh series, but is hopeful Stuart Broad is fit to lead the attack in the first Test.

With James Anderson not fit enough to travel, England had pencilled Broad and Graham Onions in as a reliable new-ball pairing in spinfriendly conditions.

Those plans were hit last week when both men were laid low by back injuries.

While Broad has recovered quickly and has been bowling full practice spells for the last two days, Onions is to return home.

No replacement is required as 20-year-old Middlesex quick Steven Finn had already linked up with the squad as cover, while the fast bowling ranks are also swelled by the likes of Tim Bresnan, Ajmal Shahzad and Liam Plunkett.

Of those Yorkshire’s Bresnan is in pole position to get the nod, though Finn pressed his case with an eye-catching display against Bangladesh A.

Nevertheless, Cook is sad to see Onions, who was controversially left out of England’s last Test against South Africa, depart.

‘‘I’m desperately disappointed for him,’’ said Cook ahead of becoming his country’s 79th Test captain.

‘‘He was a huge part of our plans and he still is, obviously, because of the way he bowled in South Africa, where he was unlucky not to take more wickets than he did.

‘‘He bowled really well and I was expecting him come to these conditions and bowl really well too. But these things happen, and luckily we’ve got the strength in depth in our seam-bowling unit to be able to cope.’’ Cook does not expect Onions’ injury to be a serious one after an initial medical assessment showed no major concerns.

Instead, the decision to send the Durham bowler, 27, home is a pragmatic one.

‘‘The MRI scan didn’t show too much structural damage so it does look like a shortterm thing, but these matches come so quickly and he hasn’t had any proper bowling on this tour,’’ Cook said.

‘‘We couldn’t see how he could physically be ready.

Even if he was fit he wouldn’t be match-fit to play in the second Test match, so there’s obviously no point in him being here.’’ Assessing Broad’s chances, Cook said: ‘‘He bowled really well in the nets, 10 or 12 in two spells, which is a very encouraging sign. Today is the second part of that process of a fitness test so we will see how he is.’’