DHAKA: Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc has been ruled out of the fourth Ashes Test with a heel injury while England paceman Craig Overton will also miss the match in Melbourne with a fractured rib, reports ESPN.

Starc first donned the baggy green in 2011. The express paceman has featured in 39 Tests but only one of them has started on Boxing Day.

The left-armer was determined to prove his fitness this week, having suffered a bruised heel in Perth while helping Australia claim an unassailable 3-0 lead in the Ashes.

The fast bowler said he felt like he could have played on his bruised heel, but said after visiting his doctor and physio he had decided he would not play if he was not 100 per cent.

"It would have been selfish if I had gone in underdone and put the other guys under pressure if I had to pull out midway through," he said.

England's Overton was struck in the rib while batting in the second Test at Adelaide and aggravated the area further while fielding in the series-deciding defeat last week with scans revealing the extent of the damage.

"Craig Overton has been ruled out of the Boxing Day Test against Australia with a fractured rib" the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Sunday (December 24).

England must now pick a replacement with Jake Ball, Mason Crane, Tom Curran and Mark Wood all eligible for the penultimate Test, which begins on Tuesday (December 19).

BDST: 1601 HRS, DEC 24, 2017
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