England seamer Kate Cross has been ruled out of the one-off Women’s Ashes Test starting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Captain Heather Knight confirmed that Cross, 33, had not sufficiently recovered from a back injury that she suffered against South Africa in December.
Cross was not part of the T20 side for the Ashes series but missed the three one-day internationals which opened the tour with the same issue.
“Kate is pretty much close to full fitness now, but just not quite at the pace and the performance that we know she can reach at her best,” Knight told BBC Sport.
“A Test match is four days, so she will miss out and it is a real shame for her.
“She’s a really key part of our group, she loves playing Test match cricket and she’s been so desperate to play. We’re all really disappointed for her that she hasn’t been able to make it.”
It is a significant blow for England as Knight will remain without her most experienced seamer.
Knight did not reveal the England team as they were still deciding on the bowling attack, but confirmed that they would be playing an extra batter in Sophia Dunkley.
Lauren Bell, Lauren Filer and all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt are likely to form the seam attack.
England have lost all six white-ball matches on the tour so far and are fighting to avoid a 16-0 clean sweep, which has never been done before in the multi-format series.
“There’s a lot of hurt and disappointment around how this tour has gone,” Knight added.
“We haven’t shown what we are capable of as a team, but we want to do that this week and show our character to the fans that are here and watching back home.”
A Test win is worth four points and a draw two each.
England also went winless in the 2022 series in Australia but they finished with four points overall because of a drawn Test and two T20 washouts.
