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With the Ashes on the line, Australia have called up Josh Hazlewood and Cameron Green for the Fourth Test which begins in Manchester on Wednesday. The inclusion of Green – cementing their struggle all the way up to No. 10 – means Australia will take the field unspun in over a decade as they look to their first victory in England since 2001.
After a 10-day break, the Ashes head to Old Trafford with the series interestingly qualified 2-1 in Australia’s favour. On the eve of the match, Australian captain Pat Cummins revealed that Hazelwood would replace Scott Boland and kept the door open for one more change. Later in the evening, Australia, carrying the Ashes, confirmed that Green – who had missed the previous Test at Headingley with a hamstring injury – would replace Todd Murphy. With Alex Carey set to bat at No. 8, the Australian batting extends to No. 10, where Cummins is decided.
The top five are unchanged
Since it became clear that Green was suitable and available for selection, Australia faced selection difficulties. Although David Warner was struggling in the opening innings, Cummins ensured Leeds’ Test top five would remain unchanged. “He (Warner) was going really well,” Cummins said. “I thought on Lord, he’s been really impressive. Last week, like many of us, he probably didn’t contribute as much as he would have liked with the bat.
“He’s been there over the last couple of days doing a lot of work, but I think this round he’s shown a lot of good signs and he hasn’t started to get that big. Some of those innings he’s played under really tough circumstances made it easy for (Steve) Smith To come and score, or something,” Cummins said.
With Murphy dropped, Australia will take to the field without a spinner for the first time since they faced India in Perth during the 2011/12 season. In place of Nathan Lyon, Murphy bowled just 9.3 overs for a wicket at Headingley. Although Australia still have five bowling options, at some point they may need Travis Head or Marnus Labuschagny to spin a few offs to break the monotony.
“It all depends on the circumstances,” Cummins said. “I would have loved to have played him a bit more but there was no heap of overplay in the game, the ball seemed to wobble and stick a little bit, so that’s definitely something that has to weigh in this week.”
Wet weather is expected
It rained in Manchester most of Tuesday and was set to drop early Wednesday. But the rain was expected to return on Saturday. Speaking on the eve of the match, England captain Ben Stokes said that if expectations remain as expected, it could work in their favour. “With the predictable weather, it may bring us more again knowing that we may have to push the game more than we normally would,” Stokes said.
England had picked their squad on Monday with James Anderson coming on for Ollie Robinson as the only change. Returning to Anderson at home – where one of the ends is named after him – is a bit of a bold move from England as the 688-wicket seamer struggled in the series, picking up just three wickets in the first two matches he played. With the clause being on the flatter side to suit England’s Bazball tactics, Anderson was unable to make the kind of impact he had made in previous Ashes at home.
However, in the cloudy conditions Stokes believed Anderson would be needed in Manchester. “I have no doubt that at some point this week Jimmy Anderson will be absolutely decisive for us,” said Stokes.
“When you’ve been a world-class entertainer for so long, you can understand the frustration he felt at not feeling like he had contributed. He didn’t take nearly 700 wickets without taking a couple of matches from not feeling his best. World-class performers bounce back.” and offer their services.”
Stokes said that if they win and the series goes down to the wire, it has the potential to be one of the best Ashes in a long time.
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