MELBOURNE: England have made two changes to their XI for the Boxing Day Ashes Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with Jofra Archer ruled out through injury and Ollie Pope dropped following another disappointing performance.
Fast bowler Archer has been ruled out for the remainder of the Ashes series with a side strain.
The 29-year-old, who took six wickets in Australia’s 82-run win in Adelaide, was sent for scans after bowling a reduced workload in the second innings in Melbourne on Tuesday. He will return to the UK next week for further assessment.
Despite the setback, England are confident Archer will be fit for the T20 World Cup in February and have decided not to call up a replacement for the final Test, with both Matthew Potts and Matthew Fisher already in the squad.
Gus Atkinson comes in for Archer and is expected to take the new ball alongside Brayden Garse.
Josh Tongu retained his place after taking five wickets in Adelaide, while Ben Stokes was overlooked for a fourth successive Test despite being described as England’s first-choice spinner.
Will Jacks continues at No. 8 as a spin-bowling all-rounder.
The second change was Ollie Pope with Jacob Bethel at 3rd. Pope’s struggles against Australia continued in the series, where he managed just 125 runs in six innings at 20.83.
He was dropped for the second consecutive Ashes tour after failing to score a fifty in 16 innings against Australia.
Meanwhile, Bethel will claim his fifth Test cap on Boxing Day. He made his New Zealand debut last year and has become a regular feature in England’s white-ball sides, despite limited red-ball opportunities at county level and no first-class centuries to his name.
He also captained England during the T20 series against Ireland in September.
Pope remained England’s preferred No.3 throughout Stokes’ captaincy, playing in 41 of their last 44 Tests.
However, the lingering pressure on his place intensified after Bethel scored three half-centuries while batting at No.3 against New Zealand last December.
Although Pope briefly revived his chances with a century against Zimbabwe in June and another against India at Headingley, his form soon fell behind, prompting the selectors to act.
Ben Duckett has been retained despite failing to reach 30 in his first innings of the series.
He remains under ECB investigation after a video went viral on social media, although Stokes reiterated Duckett had his “full support”.
Meanwhile, Australia is set to make at least three changes. Captain Pat Cummins (back rehab) and Nathan Lyon (torn hamstring) are both unavailable, while Steven Smith is expected to return from illness and lead the team.
England XI for the fourth Test against Australia:
Jack Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (week), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brayden Garse and Josh Dungu.
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