Craig Overton will play no part in the Boxing Day Test

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England pace bowler Craig Overton will miss the Boxing Day Test due to a fractured rib he sustained during the third Ashes Test in Perth.

Overton suffered the injury while trying to take a return catch off his own bowling. Prior to that, he was also struck on the chest while batting during the second Test in Adelaide.

“Official confirmation that Craig Overton (is) ruled out of this Test match with a fractured rib sustained at the WACA,” an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) statement said.

With Overton out, England captain Joe Root confirmed that uncapped seamer Tom Curran will come into the playing XI.

“Sometimes as a captain you have to go with your gut and he (Curran) really hit home with me this week,” Root said. “It wasn’t an easy decision. We certainly (spent) a while thinking about it, trying to weigh up what was the going to be the best way to go about it in these conditions and on this surface.

“For the balance of the team, I think Tom was the best option. He does get the ball to move around a little bit. He’s always in the contest.

“That’s one thing that really stands out to me – he will at no point hide away from any challenge if it does become very hard. He’ll give it absolutely everything.”

Root admitted that Mark Wood was also among the frontrunners to replace Overton, but 26-year-old pointed out that he still has concerns about Wood’s fitness.

“He did come into it,” Root conceded. “The fact that (he’s) not necessarily 100 per cent fit, not played a huge amount of cricket and might have been a little bit of a risk going into this game (affected the decision).

“It was a tough call and guys made it very difficult for me.”