Due to a side strain, England fast bowler Jofra Archer’s Ashes campaign came to an end on Wednesday and the struggling tourists benched batter Ollie Pope for the fourth Test match against Australia.
With England behind 0-3 in the five-Test series, Surrey seamer Gus Atkinson will take Archer’s place and play for dignity in Melbourne and Sydney.
“Warwickshire’s Jacob Bethell comes into the side and will bat at number three,” the touring side said in a statement ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
With 9 wickets, including a five-wicket haul in Adelaide, and important lower-order runs, including a maiden fifty in the same game, Archer has been perhaps England’s greatest performer on this tour. Archer’s availability for the Twenty20 World Cup in February and March is also uncertain due to the injury.
“The effort that he’s put in over these three games has been exceptional,” captain Ben Stokes said of the pacer on Tuesday.
“There were a lot of question marks around his ability or whatever it may be coming out to Australia, and he’s put in a great effort for the team.”
Opener Ben Duckett was able to save his spot for the fourth Test despite doing worse than Pope, whose 46 in Perth is still his highest score in six Ashes innings on this tour.
With a highest score of 29, Duckett has amassed 97 runs in six innings.
Rob Key, the director of the England team, stated that they would investigate allegations that players drank excessively during a break between this month’s second and third Test matches, as if another disastrous Ashes campaign wasn’t terrible enough.
Amidst the media scrutiny of his players’ performance and behavior on the tour, an emotional Stokes stated on Wednesday that his top priority was their mental health.
“I’m obviously aware of the reports and everything circulating around right now,” Stokes said.
“My main concern right now is my players, and how I handle this moment right now is the most important thing to me.
“The welfare of everyone in there, and probably some certain individuals as well, is the most important thing to me right now as England captain.
“It’s never a nice place to be in when not only the media world, but also the social media world, is piling on top of you,” he added.
“It’s a very tough place to be in as an individual. As an individual, when you know you’ve got the support of the people who are sort of leaders, in a sense, it’s very good to know that you’ve got that support.”
England XI for fourth Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue
