Sydney, Dec 29 (UNI) England suffered another injury setback on their Ashes tour after fast bowler Gus Atkinson was ruled out of the final ICC World Test Championship contest at the Sydney Cricket Ground due to a hamstring injury.
According to the International Cricket Council (ICC) website, Atkinson sustained the injury to his left hamstring while bowling on the second day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. The 27-year-old left the field after completing his fifth over of Australia’s second innings and did not return, as England went on to seal a four-wicket victory at the MCG.
Subsequent scans confirmed the hamstring issue, forcing Atkinson to miss the fifth and final Test of the Ashes series. Australia currently leads the five-match series 3-1.
“England Men’s seamer Gus Atkinson has been ruled out for the remainder of the Ashes tour after scans confirmed he has sustained a left hamstring injury,” England said in a statement. “The Surrey right-armer left the field after bowling his fifth over of Australia’s second innings during England’s victory at the MCG in the fourth Test.”
“England will not call up a replacement for the fifth Test, which gets underway in Sydney on 4 January,” the statement added.
England’s pace resources have already been stretched this tour, with Jofra Archer and Mark Wood sidelined due to injuries. Fellow quicks Matthew Fisher and Matthew Potts, who are part of the touring squad, are now in contention to fill the void left by Atkinson for the series finale.
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue.
England’s Gus Atkinson ruled out of final Ashes Test
