The England wicketkeeper broke it playing for Essex on Thursday. He will be out for between four and six weeks.

The 22-year-old dived to his right to stop a ball, failed to take it cleanly as it bobbled and, although he played through the pain for an hour, he reported discomfort at lunch.

He had only just returned from a long spell on the sidelines after breaking his left forearm batting in the nets.

The absence has allowed Alec Stewart to reclaim his place in the England side.

This latest injury, which was sustained in only his second first-class match of the summer, leaves Foster facing a race against time to be fit again before the end of the season.

"If you want to get picked to go on tours you have to be playing cricket and it mustn't look good for me," Foster admitted.

"But you can't dwell on it or go back in time and I just hope I have used up all my bad luck in one season.

"I feel pretty gutted, I was really looking forward to getting back and playing some cricket.''

Foster played in all six Tests in India and New Zealand and was awarded a central contract this summer.