Australian spearhead Mitchell Starc and Craig Overton, England’s most impressive player so far, have been ruled out of Melbourne Test. While Jackson Bird will replace Starc in the squad for the traditional Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Overton will be replaced by Tom Curran and might make his Ashes debut as well.

Overton, too, made his debut in the ongoing Ashes series and was very impressive with both bat and ball. He was first struck by a bouncer on ribs while batting in Adelaide, but a caught and bowled attempt in WACA made the conditions even grim. After the Perth Test, scans revealed a crack in his ribs, which forced him to miss the fourth game.

On the other hand, Starc has been in furious form throughout this Ashes series and has picked up 19 wickets in the first three encounters. However, an untimely injury once again kept him at bay from the Boxing-Day Test. Since making his Test debut in 2011, he has featured in only one such Test at MCG.

Josh Hazelwood sees Jackson Bird as an ideal replacement and said “He’s (Starc) very disappointed. You do feel that extra responsibility I guess but I’ve played quite a few Tests without Mitch now. It feels a bit normal. Birdy has played a lot of cricket, Patty (Cummins) has played a fair bit now as well.”

Surrey pacer Curran is most likely to play in place of him, who was brought Down Under after an injury ruled Steven Finn out from the Ashes series. England has already lost the Ashes after facing big defeats in first three matches and now they will try to keep their morals up for remaining two games before an ODI series.

Amidst, Tim Paine has arrived in Melbourne and will start training with his team on Sunday. He will participate in the Melbourne Test after arriving late here due to some personal reason.