England fast bowler Josh Tongue will miss the upcoming white-ball tour of Australia after being ruled out with a toe injury. The 28-year-old sustained the injury during a tour of Pakistan last month, which resulted in him missing the final two games of that tri-series.
Tongue is scheduled to return to the UK for further assessment. He will miss the one-day and T20 matches in Australia, which are set to begin with an ODI in Perth on 13 November. Despite the absence, Tongue is likely to be available for the three-match Test series in South Africa in December. The squad for that series is expected to be named next week.
The upcoming tour marks the first time England will play in Australia since the 2025-26 Ashes demolition. Coach Brendon McCullum stated he wants a strong team for the ODI portion of the trip as England prepares for next year's World Cup in southern Africa. However, McCullum conceded he will have to rotate the squad for the T20 leg because of a busy winter involving five separate overseas tours.
In a one-day warm-up match in Perth, Adil Rashid took four wickets to help England defeat Western Australia by 92 runs. The 38-year-old, who was left out of the final three matches of the October tour of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, took 4-35. Jofra Archer contributed 3-34 to secure the victory.
England faced difficulties during the match, being bowled out for 251 following a sloppy batting display. The team reached 60-1 before Rashid took several wickets, including Jayden Goodwin and Ashton Turner in successive deliveries. Ben Duckett scored the highest total with 49, while Liam Dawson remained unbeaten for 44. Archer finished the game by bowling out the Western Australia tail for 159.
