Australian stumper Tim Paine may miss Melbourne Test against England due to a personal reason as his father-in-law is unwell and he opted to stay in Tasmania rather traveling with the team to the venue of fourth Ashes Test.

A Cricket Australia (CA) spokesperson revealed this in the latest statement, which is “Tim Paine has not traveled with the squad to Melbourne due to personal reasons. An update on his travel plans will be provided in due course.”

CA has not announced any replacement so far and in the same case, middle-order batsman Peter Handscomb may fill the wicketkeeper’s spot in the team. He was left out of Perth Test after a string of poor outings in red-ball cricket.

Recently, Handscomb was very confident for a recall in the playing XI for Boxing-Day Test at MCG. “I’m quite confident with the way I’m batting at the moment. I’m not really that worried about my game at the moment. I know how well I can play and I know how tough Test cricket is. “[If] I come back in at any stage I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to come in and make runs,” he said.

Meanwhile, Australia is facing Starc-terror as he has to recover on time to take a part in MCG Test. Starc injured his ankle during Perth Test, which increased headaches in Australia’s camp.

With Australia 3-0 up in the series, they will eye another Ashes whitewash of England in MCG and SCG respectively.