England bowler Atkinson set for scan on hamstring

On Saturday, England’s pace bowler Gus Atkinson will go under the knife to assess the extent of a hamstring injury sustained in Australia’s shocking defeat in the fourth Ashes Test.

On what turned out to be England’s second and final morning of four wickets, pace bowler Atkinson added to their injury woes when he left the field.

The 27-year-old injured his left hamstring after the final ball of his fourth over bowled at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday.

England claimed Atkinson felt a “soreness,” and he had no intention of playing again as the visitors came to an end to an 18-game winless run in this nation.

Following England’s victory in just two days, captain Ben Stokes expressed disappointment at seeing him leave the field.

I’ll leave that up to the medical team because I’m not a member of their team. We’ll have to wait and see, as always when a player leaves the field.

On Sunday, January 4 (23:30 GMT on January 3), the final test of the series in Sydney will take place.

On this Ashes tour, England have already lost Jofra Archer and Mark Wood to side strains.

Matthew Fisher was assigned Wood’s cover. The two English seamers who haven’t yet appeared in the series are Matthew Potts and Isaac Fisher.

With just three wickets to his name, Atkinson struggled in the tour’s opening two Test matches.

Atkinson, one of only three England players to score in double figures, improved at the MCG, taking two wickets in Australia’s opening match and bringing in 28 with the bat.

At the conclusion of Australia’s second innings, he returned on Saturday morning and had nightwatchman Scott Boland caught behind.

He immediately felt for his hamstring after the fifth over of his spell, which was interrupted by a slower ball to Travis Head.