MELBOURNE — England fast bowler Tom Curran’s competitive nature had earned him a Test debut ahead of the speedy Mark Wood in the fourth Ashes match against Australia Tuesday, replacing the injured Craig Overton, captain Joe Root said Monday. Overton was struck in the ribs while batting in the second test at Adelaide and aggravated the area further while fielding in the third Test in Perth with scans revealing a fracture. Australia has already reclaimed the Ashes with its innings and 41-run victory in Perth giving it an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. Curran, who made his Twenty20 debut in June and then played his first One-Day International in September, was an injury replacement for Steven Finn, who withdrew before the first test with a knee injury. Root said the selection of the South-African born fast-medium bowler was very much a gut decision. “Sometimes as a captain you have to go with your gut and he really hit home with me this week,” Root told reporters ahead of the fixture starting on Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. “It wasn’t an easy decision. We certainly (spent) a while thinking about it, trying to weigh up what was going to be the best way to go about it in these conditions and on this surface. “He does get the ball to move around a little bit. He’s always in the contest. That’s one thing that really stands out to me — he will at no point hide away from any challenge if it does become very hard. He’ll give it absolutely everything.” Curran’s elevation ahead of Wood was something of a surprise given England’s pace bowlers have struggled in Australia, with stalwarts James Anderson and Stuart Broad both struggling to get any movement through the air or off the pitch, while their entire attack has been lacking in pace. Pundits had suggested that Wood, arguably the fastest bowler in their squad, could be picked, but Root said the 27-year-old was not quite match-fit as he battled back from an ankle injury. “He did come into it,” Root said of the selection discussions around Curran and Wood. “The fact that (he’s) not necessarily 100 per cent fit, not played a huge amount of Cricket, (it) might have been a little bit of a risk going into this game. “It was a tough call (but) ...for the balance of the team, I think Tom was the best option.” England tail ready for more bouncer barrage — Anderson England fast bowler James Anderson expects Australia to continue peppering the touring tail-enders with short-pitched deliveries in the remaining two Ashes Tests and says he has no problems with that. Former England captain Michael Atherton has urged umpires to invoke cricket’s laws and protect England’s tail-enders from Australia’s relentless “bodyline” bowling Down Under. Anderson was struck on the side of his helmet in the third Test, which Australia won convincingly to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series, and was seen talking to umpires after the game. “I have actually chatted to the umpires about it during this series and they say at test level you should be able to handle short balls. That is a clear message to get in the nets and practice against bouncers,” Anderson wrote in his column for the Telegraph. “I was not quizzing the umpires or asking them to stop it happening. I was just interested in their opinion. I guess we just need to get better at playing them. I have no problem with that. It is part and parcel of the game.” “We have bounced tail-enders in this series and at other teams. The only time I think umpires should step in is if it is clear that a player cannot cope with them. Then the umpires should step in more.” Australia captain Steve Smith and paceman Pat Cummins have defended their team’s strategy and warned that the bouncer barrage will continue in the final two tests at Melbourne and Sydney. “We know it will not stop in this series and playing the short ball better is one challenge for the final two tests when we need to show some pride and prove to people we are not a walkover as a team,” Anderson added. England will expect some relief after Australia’s pace spearhead Mitchell Starc was ruled out of the Melbourne test with a heel injury. — Agencies