Overview
- England confirmed Atkinson has a left hamstring injury and will miss the Sydney Test starting January 4.
- England will not call up a replacement, with Matthew Potts leading the internal options and Matthew Fisher also in contention.
- Planning points to Potts joining Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue in the pace group, with spin cover from Will Jacks or Shoaib Bashir if required.
- Cricket Australia released Beau Webster and Josh Inglis for one BBL game each and said both will rejoin the Test squad on December 31 after the two-day MCG finish created a scheduling gap.
- Coach Andrew McDonald said Usman Khawaja is locked into the Sydney XI and framed the finale around World Test Championship points after the Ashes were secured at 3-0.