{"id":660145,"date":"2025-12-29T11:30:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T11:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/660145\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T11:30:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T11:30:32","slug":"two-england-bowling-options-emerge-for-sydney-ashes-test-after-gus-atkinson-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/660145\/","title":{"rendered":"Two England bowling options emerge for Sydney Ashes Test after Gus Atkinson injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

England\u2019s ever-changing attack will be shaken up again for the fifth and final Ashes<\/a> Test in Sydney after fast bowler Gus Atkinson<\/a> became the latest to succumb to injury.<\/p>\n

Atkinson strained his left hamstring soon after picking up his third wicket during England\u2019s victory in Melbourne<\/a> on Saturday – a first Test win on Australian soil in nearly 15 years – and the 27-year-old has subsequently been ruled out of the Ashes finale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The damage is a hamstring tear following scans, denying him the chance to feature in the New Year Test, though the exact severity may not be known until further assessment when he returns home.<\/p>\n

The Surrey seamer\u2019s departure makes it three bowlers down for the tourists, joining Jofra Archer and Mark Wood on the treatment table.<\/p>\n

In Atkinson\u2019s absence, 10-Test Matthew Potts<\/a> is in line to be called into action as the last unused bowler from the original squad of 16.<\/p>\n

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\"Matthew<\/p>\n

Matthew Potts is next in line for a Test recall in Sydney (Robbie Stephenson\/PA) (PA Wire)<\/p>\n

If selected, it would be the fast-medium pacer\u2019s first Test since notching five wickets in a bruising defeat to New Zealand in Hamilton over a year ago.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old Durham star made his Test debut for England in 2022 but is not the only option available to Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes.<\/p>\n

Atkinson\u2019s county team-mate Matthew Fisher is the other reserve quick in the side and could be called upon to make his Ashes debut.<\/p>\n

One-Test Fisher was added to England\u2019s squad following the withdrawal of Wood, whose knee problems flared up after the first Test, but has yet to feature.<\/p>\n

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\"Matthew<\/p>\n

Matthew Fisher could also be called upon to replace Gus Atkinson (Robbie Stephenson\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n

Potts has 36 wickets in 10 Tests appearances, averaging 29.44, while Fisher won his only cap against the West Indies in 2022, taking one one wicket for 71 in Barbados.<\/p>\n

While Atkinson\u2019s absence is confirmed, he will not be replaced in the squad as the Ashes reaches its climax.<\/p>\n

Brydon Carse is set to complete five Tests in a row, though could cede new ball duties, with Josh Tongue continuing after two impressive performances in Adelaide and Melbourne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England\u2019s ever-changing attack will be shaken up again for the fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[748,393,4884,94599,96086,201768,201769,201770,1862,32504,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-660145","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-gus-atkinson","12":"tag-mark-wood","13":"tag-matthew-fisher","14":"tag-matthew-potts","15":"tag-out-of-the-ashes","16":"tag-sydney","17":"tag-test","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115802631441380210","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}