Monday 25 December 2017 08:50, UK
Australia skipper Steve Smith came through a scare in the nets ahead of the Boxing Day Test with England, but Mitchell Starc has been ruled out with a bruised heel.
Smith was standing to the side of the Melbourne Cricket Ground nets on Sunday when he was struck by a stray ball that had been hit by Cameron Bancroft.
Smith looked in discomfort but opener David Warner insisted his captain would be fine to play in the fourth Ashes Test.
"There's absolutely nothing wrong with him, he's fine," Warner said. "He was confused how it actually got there. I think we all were. It hit the top of the rail and then just flicked up."
Smith was struck on the same hand while working on his slips catching at training earlier in the season.
Wicketkeeper Tim Paine, who delayed his arrival into Melbourne after his father-in-law had a stroke, trained with the squad on Sunday.
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 the MCG or the New Year's Test in Sydney.
However, the hosts have been forced to bring in Jackson Bird for paceman Starc who has been struggling with the injury to his right foot.
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.
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.