Paceman James Pattinson will miss the Ashes after yet another flare up of the stress fractures in his back which has left his international career in limbo.
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The 27-year-old hasn't represented Australia in any format since February last year due to recurring back and shin problems, and will now be rested indefinitely following his latest setback.
His latest injury robs Australia of its dream pace quartet against England this summer, which in a perfect world would have included a firing Pattinson alongside NSW trio Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.
"Obviously I am extremely disappointed with this setback after just getting back into a good run of playing cricket," Pattinson said. "I'm especially disappointed to miss out on the possibility to play in a home Ashes series. Over the next few weeks I will discuss all available options available to me with medical staff, to work out the best plan to prevent this from happening again."
Pattinson enjoyed a productive county cricket season in England this year, helping Nottinghamshire win the domestic one-day cup.
He took a team-high 13 wickets during the competition, and hit the winning runs in the final against Surrey at Lord's. He also took 32 wickets in five first-class matches, at an average of just 12.06.
But the fiery Victorian presented with back pain upon his return to Australia and was rested from the two-Test series in Bangladesh where he had been hopeful of a long-awaited return to the national team.
"We made the decision to withdraw him from the tour of Bangladesh and monitor his pain. He returned to bowling after a period of rest and unfortunately he is still experiencing pain with bowling," Cricket Australia sports scientist and sports medicine manager Alex Kountouris said. "During this time we have been monitoring him, including regular scans, and recent imaging has confirmed that James has begun to reaggravate his previous lower back stress fracture.
"As such, he has discontinued bowling as part of his recovery which unfortunately means that he will be unavailable for the beginning of the Sheffield Shield and subsequent Ashes campaign.
"James' current injury is complex because his history of old stress fractures from his teenage years means there is one part of his spine that absorbs more force than it would normally do.
"This is the area of the current reaggravation but we are hopeful that we can put strategies in place to help manage this when James returns to playing. Whilst this is very disappointing that James has reaggravated this old injury, we are confident that he can recover from this and return to playing."
Pattinson's withdrawal from the Ashes comes less than a day after England announced vice-captain Ben Stokes would miss the Ashes if a police investigation into his arrest last month was still ongoing by the start of the first Test.
A 27-year-old man was left requiring treatment for facial injuries.
Stokes was stood down from playing duties indefinitely by the England and Wales Cricket Board, but the door has been left ajar for the English vice-captain to still represent his side in the Ashes which begin on November 23 in Brisbane.
English media, however, is reporting Stokes will only feature in Australia this summer if he faces no further action, or if any potential court proceedings are wrapped up within the next six weeks.
Losing Stokes would be a huge blow for an English team expected to struggle in Australian conditions.
He's one of the world's best all-rounders, and was the highest-paid player in this year's Indian Premier League fetching a whopping $2.8m to play for Rising Pune Supergiants.
