Australia's Mitchell Starc ruled out of fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne through injury
Monday 25 December 2017 08:35, UK
Australia pace bowler Mitchell Starc has been ruled out of the fourth Ashes Test against England with a bruised heel.
Starc has been struggling with the injury to his right foot and he will now be replaced by Jackson Bird for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
Australia hold an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series following victory in Perth but England will be looking to avoid a second successive whitewash in Australia by picking up at least one victory at either the MCG or the New Year's Test in Sydney.
Starc was described on Thursday by fellow Australia pace bowler Pat Cummins as having only a "50/50" chance of being involved and he will be a substantial loss to Steve Smith's side.
The New South Wales left-armer has taken 19 wickets in the opening three Ashes matches but has spent much of the past week on crutches in his failed attempts to try and speed up his recovery.
Bird will play his first Test in 12 months, with the most recent of the Tasmanian's eight Tests coming in the Boxing Day victory over Pakistan last year.
He has since been a non-playing member of Australia's squad for all 10 Tests they have played to date in 2017.
