Archer injured, Pope dropped for Boxing Day test

A side strain has ended England fast bowler Jofra Archer's Ashes campaign, while the beleaguered tourists dropped batter Ollie Pope for the fourth test against Australia on Boxing Day.

Surrey seamer Gus Atkinson will replace Archer in an England side down 3-0 in the five-test series and will be playing for pride 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.

Archer has been arguably England's best player on this tour, taking nine wickets, including a five-wicket haul in Adelaide, and scoring valuable lower-order runs including a maiden fifty in the same match.

The injury casts doubts over Archer's availability for the Twenty20 World Cup in February and March.

"The effort that he's put in over these three games has been exceptional," captain Ben Stokes said of the speedster 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."

Pope, whose 46 in Perth remains his highest score in six Ashes innings on this tour, paid the price for his poor run of form, but opener Ben Duckett managed to retain his place for the fourth test despite faring worse.

Duckett has tallied 97 runs in six innings with a highest score of 29.

As if another botched Ashes campaign was not bad enough for them, England team director Rob Key said they would look into reports that players drank excessively during a break between the second and third Ashes tests in Noosa this month.

An emotional Stokes yesterday said the mental well-being of his players was his main priority amid the media scrutiny of their performance and behaviour on the tour.

Meanwhile, spinner Todd Murphy has been called into the Australia squad in place of the injured Nathan Lyon for the Melbourne test, while captain Pat Cummins will skip the rest of the series as his back issue is managed. An Australian squad has been named.

Ashes fourth test
MCG, Melbourne
From December 26

England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue

Australia squad: Steve Smith (captain), 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.