Ashton Agar has been sent home early to Australia after struggling to overcome an illness he came down with last week.
The 19-year-old made a fairytale debut in the series-opening Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, but his tour has ended in disappointment.
Agar battled with illness during Australia’s tour match against the England Lions during the week, looking tired and troubled when bowling.
The spin bowler who scored a stunning 98 on debut, the highest ever score by a No.11 batsman in Test history, will return to Perth and rest and recuperate ahead of the domestic summer.
Agar was dropped after the second Test at Lord’s, with Nathan Lyon assuming his position as the first-choice spinner.
It’s been a long campaign for Agar, who arrived in the UK in May and played with the Australia A squad.
Australian team doctor Peter Brukner said sending Agar home early was the best decision.
“Ashton has had a mild viral illness for the past week and needs some time to rest and recuperate,” Brukner said.
“It has been a long tour and while he has handled the pressure extremely well, we thought it would be a good idea for him to get home as soon possible to have a short break before preparing for the domestic season.”
Tasmanian all rounder James Faulkner has been called up to make his Test debut in the fifth Test at The Oval starting tonight.
Faulkner comes in for Usman Khawaja and in a second change, Mitchell Starc replaces Jackson Bird in the fast bowling department.
Shane Watson will bat at No.3 and Brad Haddin will push up to No.6.
In better news for Australian cricket fans, Australia assumed the advantage in the women’s Ashes cricket series with a gutsy 27-run win over England in the opening one-day international on Tuesday.
After being restricted to a modest 8-203 from 50 overs after winning the toss and choosing to bat, a superb bowling and fielding display paved the way for victory at Lord’s.
Jess Jonassen took four wickets and fellow spinner Erin Osborne three as the Southern Stars bowled England out for 176 in 47.3 overs.
The win means Australia takes a two-point lead in the multi-format series after the opening clash, a sole Test match, was drawn.
The one-day world champions are chasing their first Ashes win on English soil since 2001 but they have plenty of work ahead with two more one-day games and three Twenty20 matches still to play.
“This gives a good momentum but it’s a big series, there’s still five games to go, and now we’ve got to focus on the next one,” Australian captain Jodie Fields said.
“We would have liked to get a few more runs early on, it was a good batting wicket.
“We didn’t quite play the shots we wanted to and read the conditions but that’s cricket and we kept fighting today.”
The series continues with the second one-day match in Hove on Friday.
