Having suffered a humiliating 275-run defeat in the Adelaide Test, England have conceded a 2-0 lead in the five-match Ashes series.
Heading into the Boxing Day Test, slated to start on December 26 at MCG, the visitors are facing a must-win situation to keep the Ashes alive and they have made four changes for the match.
Zak Crawley has been recalled for the first time since March to replace struggling opener Rory Burns, despite averaging just 28.34 from his 15 Tests. On the other hand, veteran Jonny Bairstow has replaced youngster Ollie Pope from the middle-order as the latter failed to adapt to the conditions down under.
England have also tweaked their bowling combination, with the return of speedster Mark Wood and off-spinner Jack Leach in the playing XI. While Wood was rested for the pink-ball Test in Adelaide after a nine-wicket thrashing in the series opener at Gabba, Leach was dropped from the XI.
Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes have been overlooked in an attack that will be led by seasoned campaigner Jimmy Anderson and Ollie Robinson.
"It's a massive game for us, but it's a brilliant venue to play cricket at. Everyone is very excited to be here in what I'm sure will be a hostile environment," said wicketkeeper Jos Buttler on the eve of the game.
"We know we need to bring our best cricket, we haven't brought that so far and that's disappointing.
"The reaction (after Adelaide) has been an honest one," he added. "We have a really tight-knit group, some great mates in there, but we had some honest conversations as well."
On the other hand, the hosts are bolstered by the return of skipper Pat Cummins, who missed the second Test after being a close contact of a COVID-19 case. Cummins replaces Michael Neser in the playing XI.
However, Josh Hazlewood will miss the action once again as he continues to recover from a side strain.
Jhye Richardson, who claimed five wickets in England's second innings at Adelaide, is pretty sore from his efforts and Scott Boland will replace him.
Notably, Boland is the third Australian debutant in this series after Neser and Alex Carey.
"He was pretty sore," Cummins told reporters of Richardson, adding that he also had a minor leg injury.
"We were umming and ahhing — he had a bowl yesterday but we thought seven days off (before the fourth Test in Sydney) will kind of give him enough rest."
Scott Boland has taken 91 wickets at 25.71 in 26 First-Class games at MCG and Cummins they took this factor into account before selecting the former.
"It was a huge part of it. His record speaks for itself here in domestic cricket. Home ground, having someone fresh like him who can perform straightaway were the big factors."
England: Haseeb Hameed, Zak Crawley, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, Jimmy Anderson
Australia: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
(With AFP inputs)
