London: England have rested pacer Gus Atkinson for the five-match ODI series against Australia later this month. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has taken the decision to manage the pacer’s workload after he ended up leading the pace attack in six Tests against West Indies and Sri Lanka.
Atkinson, who made his debut in July against the Windies at Lord’s, finished with a tally of 34 wickets in six Tests. He along with Chris Woakes featured in all six back-to-back Tests for England this summer.
During the latter stages of the Sri Lanka series, there were indications that Atkinson’s pace had decreased over the course of the summer. He also spent some time off the field on day three at The Oval due to a tight quad. However, he was declared fit enough to bowl 11 overs in the fourth innings, where he claimed one of the two Sri Lankan wickets to fall.
ECB has named Olly Stone as his replacement in the squad.
England are set to travel to Pakistan at the end of September for a three-Test series, followed by another three-Test tour in New Zealand in November. They will be without Mark Wood, who has been sidelined for the remainder of the year due to an elbow injury. This summer, England has been focused on reshaping their seam attack following the retirements of Stuart Broad and James Anderson.
“I think he’s okay,” England’s stand-in Test captain, Ollie Pope, said of Atkinson. “He’s obviously got a couple weeks off now just to refresh and move forward. He’s able to put his feet up now, but I think the way he bowled today and just chatting to him, he actually feels like it feels better today than it did when he first felt it so that’s a positive for us. Fingers crossed he’s all good.”
England ODI squad to play Australia: Jos Buttler (capt), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, John Turner.
–IANS