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England quick Gus Atkinson suffered a scare while batting for Surrey against Notts in the County Championship at Trent Bridge when he was hit twice on the head by bouncers from fellow England man Josh Tongue.

The incidents happened on Sunday as the player was at the crease for Surrey. He continued batting on both occasions after being examined by the on-field medical team. He then failed a concussion assessment before being taken off as a precaution.

It is a serious worry for England ahead of the Test series against New Zealand. The squad for the first Test is due to be announced over the coming days and the express quick looks set to be at the heart of the pace attack.

The quick returned for 29 runs and was replaced by Reece Topley as a concussion substitute for the rest of the innings. Topley picked up a couple of quick boundaries before being dismissed for 12 off nine balls from Liam Patterson-White. Surrey registered 449, their first innings lead 34 runs.

Surrey head coach Gareth Batty said Atkinson had passed medical tests at the crease but the situation then changed.

"Gus passed the tests on the field, otherwise he would not have been able to stay out there," Batty told Sky Sports.

He added:

"He felt like he was ok, but duty of care comes into it. I don't know the ins and outs of what exactly happened, but it clearly came to a point where he had to come off. He's ok in himself."

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Atkinson's fitness is to be assessed carefully now as the right-arm paceman is expected to spearhead the bowling unit with Josh Tongue in England's first Test match against New Zealand which starts from June 4 at Lord's.

England have injury problems concerning their pace attack with Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse not available.

This may lead to the possibility of a return of Ollie Robinson to the Test squad while among other pace options are Sonny Baker of Hampshire and Sam Cook of Essex who played his first Test against Zimbabwe in 2023.

Meanwhile, it is also anticipated that England will announce former Australian opening batsman Marcus North as the team's next chief selector before announcing the squad.