Having suffered an innings and 14-run defeat in the Boxing Day Test at MCG, England have conceded an unassailable 3-0 lead to Australia in the five-match Ashes series.
Heading into the New Year’s Test, slated to start on January 5 at SCG, the visitors have recalled veteran pacer Stuart Broad to the side but the batting line-up that was dismissed for 68 in Melbourne has been kept intact.
Broad's absence from two of the three matches in the series so far has sparked a debate. However, on the eve of the fourth Test, England’s assistant coach Graham Thorpe confirmed that Broad will be back bowling in tandem with James Anderson in Sydney.
Thorpe also informed that both Ollie Robinson and Chris Woakes have sustained shoulder injuries and, thus, Mark Wood and spinner Jack Leach will complete the specialist bowling unit.
Ben Stokes will play the role of a fourth seamer and Thorpe hoped that the charismatic all-rounder would take out the frustrations of a disappointing tour down under.
"I hope we've got a couple of caged tigers coming into this match, Ben being one of them and Stuart Broad another," Thorpe told reporters on Tuesday (January 4) "Getting the players into the right frame of mind is important. I think they want put in a performance for themselves and collectively for the team."
On the other hand, Australia have made one forced change for the Sydney Test, with Usman Khawaja replacing middle-order batter Travis Head.
Khawaja returns to the Test side for the first time since 2019 comes after Head was ruled out following a positive COVID-19 test.
Ahead of the match, skipper Pat Cummins confirmed that Josh Hazlewood and Jhye Richardson had gone through some bowling practice but weren’t fully fit.
“Just not quite up to 100%. We gave (Hazlewood) every chance we could,“ Cummins said. “We just felt like he couldn’t quite bowl at full tilt yesterday.”
With Hazlewood and Richardson unable to regain full fitness, Scott Boland has retained his place in Australia’s bowling attack for the fourth Ashes Test.
Boland made his debut in the Boxing Day Test last week and picked six wickets for seven runs as England collapsed in the second innings at MCG.
After looking at the pitch, Cummins decided against bringing in Mitch Swepson as a second spinner to partner Nathan Lyon.
“You need that disciplined stump to stump bowler. That’s what Scott brings to the table,” Cummins said. “It’s no secret. If Josh Hazlewood was available he was going to play. (But) it would have been a real shame to see Scotty not play this week after his efforts last week. I’m really glad he gets another crack out here.”
England XI: Haseeb Hameed, Zak Crawley, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Jimmy Anderson
Australia XI: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
(Inputs from Reuters/AP)
