Ellis out of last two Scotland T20Is and England tour with hamstring injury

A hamstring injury sustained in the Hundred has denied Nathan Ellis the opportunity to nail down a spot in Australia's T20I side, ruling him out of the rest of their series against Scotland and the eight subsequent white-ball games in England.

Ellis was targeting the Scotland series as a rare chance to lead Australia's attack, with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins rested and Josh Hazlewood out with a calf niggle. But Cricket Australia announced on Friday that he had not recovered from his hamstring tendon injury in time to be considered for selection and would fly home imminently.

The timing of the injury - picked up while playing for London Spirit in the Hundred - is particularly frustrating for Ellis. He has played 17 T20Is, including three appearances at the 2024 T20 World Cup, but his opportunities have generally depended on at least one of the 'big three' quicks being rested.

Riley Meredith, who played his first international match since 2021 on Wednesday in Australia's thrashing of Scotland in the first T20I, will stay with the squad as cover. It has left Somerset expecting to be without Meredith on T20 Blast Finals Day on Saturday, which takes place between the second and third matches of the England series.

Hazlewood has landed in England ahead of Wednesday's first T20I at the Utilita Bowl. "[He] will join the squad in Southampton having recovered from a minor calf strain," a CA spokesperson said. Ellis was also due to feature in the five-match ODI series against England, which starts on September 19, with a replacement yet to be named.

Meredith could, in theory, be released to play for Somerset on Finals Day - which takes place at Edgbaston on Saturday - but the club's captain Lewis Gregory said after their quarter-final win on Thursday night that they were not expecting to have him available. Somerset do not have any players in England's T20I squad, so will otherwise have their full squad at their disposal.