England arrived in Australia with a four-strong pace cartel ready to rock the hosts. They will end the series with just one of them still standing
Brydon Carse is officially England’s last out-and-out speedster standing after Gus Atkinson was ruled out of the Sydney Test with a hamstring injury.
Hurt on the second morning in Melbourne, Atkinson was officially scratched from the Ashes series finale in Sydney on Monday with scans confirming the injury in his left leg.
Atkinson was initially part of a four-strong pace cartel for the opening Test in Perth, with he, Carse, Mark Wood and Jofra Archer all capable of bowling at high speed and believing they could rock Australia.
Wood lasted just one Test, pulling up sore following the two-day defeat in Perth after requiring surgery on his left knee earlier this year.
Archer followed after the third Test in Adelaide, in a particularly frustrating blow for England given he’d bowled the best he has all series in that match with a first-innings five-wicket haul.
Atkinson is now the third to go down, after being dropped for Adelaide and then recalled for Melbourne in Archer’s place.
His tour ends with six wickets at 47.33, with the brief highlights being the fourth-innings dismissals of Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne in Brisbane.
That leaves Carse as the sole express quick still left from the group that arrived in Australia six weeks ago eyeing off a chance to regain the Ashes.
Carse had his best Test of the summer in England’s win in Melbourne, after being particularly erratic as the tourists lost the first three Tests and the series.
It’s expected seamer Matthew Potts will replace Atkinson in Sydney, handing the 27-year-old his first Test in a little over 12 months.
Fellow seamer Josh Tongue would be expected to take the new ball alongside Carse following his Melbourne heroics.
The ever-reliable Ben Stokes and spin-bowling allrounder Will Jacks also remain.
2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men’s Ashes
First Test: Australia won by eight wickets
Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets
Third Test: Australia won by 82 runs
Fourth Test: England won by four wickets
Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT
Australia squad (fourth Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
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
