Wednesday 4 October 2017 09:06, UK
Australia have been dealt a major blow ahead of the Ashes after confirming fast bowler James Pattinson will miss the upcoming five-match Test series through injury.
Pattinson will take an indefinite break from bowling after aggravating a lower back stress fracture which also ruled him out of the recent tour of Bangladesh.
"Obviously I am extremely disappointed with this setback after just getting back into a good run of playing cricket, "said Pattinson.
"I'm especially disappointed to miss out on the possibility to play in a home Ashes series.
"Over the next few weeks I will discuss all options available to me with medical staff, to work out the best plan to prevent this from happening again."
Sports science and medicine manager Alex Kountouris added: "Soon after returning from the UK, following the Champions Trophy and his county cricket contract, James presented with back pain.
"We made the decision to withdraw him from the tour of Bangladesh and monitor his pain. He returned to bowling after a period of rest and unfortunately he is still experiencing pain with bowling.
"During this time we have been monitoring him, including regular scans and recent imagine has confirmed that James has begun to reaggravate his previous lower back stress fracture.
"As such, he has discontinued bowling as part of his recovery which unfortunately means that he will be unavailable for the beginning of the Sheffield Shield and subsequent Ashes campaign."
Australia have a number of injury worries in their bowling department ahead of the Ashes, with Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins all struggling for full fitness.
England's defence gets underway with the first Test in Brisbane on November 23, before further matches in Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.
