Australian skipper Pat Cummins has confirmed that there will be a change in the line-up for the fourth Ashes Test starting July 19 at Old Trafford in Manchester. Right-arm pacer Scott Boland will make way for Josh Hazlewood, who missed the third Test at Headlingley. Boland was impressive in the World Test Championship final, but he has had an ordinary run against England so far.
Meanwhile, Australia kept their faith in David Warner, who had not performed well in the series so far. Cummins admitted that Warner failed to contribute with the bat in the last Test, but added that the opener had shown plenty of positive signs in the series and had put in a lot of work in the last few days.
“Josh will come in for Scott Boland, and the top order will stay the same,” said Cummins ahead of the fourth Test.
Will Australia drop Todd Murphy in favour of a full-fledged pace attack?
Another possible change would be to replace spinner Todd Murphy in order to have a complete pace attack with Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Hazlewood. If Australia decides to bring more batting power into the team, they could go with Cameron Green, who was replaced by Mitchell Marsh at Leeds. While Marsh is certain to keep his spot following a strong performance, Green’s inclusion will be dependent on Murphy’s absence. However, the visitors will wait until the toss to reveal their full XI.
“Nathan Lyon is the greatest off-spinner we’ve ever had so it’s not quite apples for apples. We are really excited by Todd, we think he’s fantastic. I would have loved to use him a bit more last week, (but) conditions just favoured pace bowling. We think he’s a gun, we love having him around, he’s got a big future. It was more conditions the way I used him, as opposed to how he bowled,” the Aussie skipper said.
Australia currently lead the series 2-1 and a win in the fourth Test will help them retain the Ashes. Meanwhile, England have confirmed their playing XI for the Manchester Test, with the only change being the return of James Anderson in place of Ollie Robinson.
England XI for fourth Test: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
