England bowling stocks reduced as pacer succumbs to injury

By Jonathan Healy, at the MCG

England have suffered yet another injury blow with key fast bowler Gus Atkinson injuring his hamstring on the second day of the Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne.

Atkinson clutches at his left hamstring // Getty Images

Atkinson left the field grimacing in pain after pulling up sore following the final delivery of his fifth over and England have confirmed the tall right-armer was experiencing some soreness in his hamstring.

"Gus Atkinson left the field after bowling his fifth over this morning, having felt some soreness in his left hamstring," England said via a statement.

"He'll be assessed over the next few hours.

"Wishing you the best, Gus 🙏"

England captain Ben Stokes was asked about Atkinson's health at the end of the match and the skipper suggested the fast bowler would undergo scans on his injured hamstring before any further update.

"It was obviously disappointing to see him go off the field," Stokes said.

"I'm not part of the medical team, so I'll leave that (injury update) up to them.

"But yes, I'm sure as always, whenever a player leaves the field, there'll be all the scans and then we'll just have to wait and see."

Atkinson had picked up the scalp of night-watcher Scott Boland early on the second morning in Melbourne as England tried to work their way back into the fourth Test following an action-packed opening day that saw a total of 20 wickets fall.

Pace spearhead Jofra Archer has already returned home due to injury after he played in the opening three Tests, while fellow quick Mark Wood also succumbed to a knee issue following a solo appearance in Perth.

Australia XI: Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Scott Boland

England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue

Ashes schedule:

First Test: Perth Stadium, November 21-22 (Australia won by eight wickets)
Second Test: Gabba, December 4-7 (Australia won by eight wickets)
Third Test: Adelaide Oval, December 17-21 (Australia won by 82 runs)
Fourth Test: MCG, December 26-30
Fifth Test: SCG, January 4-8