England rest Gus Atkinson for Australia ODIs; Stone earns call-up

On September 9 (Monday), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that Gus Atkinson will be rested for the five-match ODI series against Australia. In Atkinson’s place, the selectors have picked Olly Stone, who made his international comeback in the Test series against Sri Lanka. 

Also Read: Cox, Hull, and more: Meet England’s uncapped players for Australia series

Atkinson made his Test debut earlier this year for England, where he scalped 12 wickets at Lord’s against West Indies. Since then, the right-arm speedster has not looked back, with 34 wickets in the England Test summer. 

"I think he's [Atkinson] okay," Ollie Pope said of Atkinson. 

"He's obviously got a couple of weeks off now just to refresh and move forward. He's able to put his feet up now, but I think the way he bowled today and just chatting to him, he actually feels like it feels better today than it did when he first felt it so that's a positive for us. Fingers crossed he's all good."

While Atkinson continued to play, there was a moment during the Sri Lanka series where the speedster walked off before the second innings of The Oval Test. Mark Wood’s injury might have prompted the selectors to rest the speedster with an eye on the upcoming Test series against Pakistan in October. 

England ODI squad vs Australia: Jos Buttler (capt), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, John Turner

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