Scott Boland has held off challengers for his spot in Australia’s XI while Usman Khawaja has been confirmed as Travis Head’s replacement for the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney.
Hazlewood’s lingering side injury will see him miss a third straight match while Jhye Richardson is also not 100 percent fit, meaning Boland will feature again following his MCG heroics. Khawaja will bat at No.5 in his first Test since the 2019 Ashes tour, replacing Head who came down with Covid-19 last week and has remained in Melbourne. Boland stunned England – and maybe even his own team – when he ripped the heart of the visitors in their second innings in Melbourne last week, snaring 6-7 including the scalp of skipper Joe Root to clinch a 3-0 series victory in rapid time.
Captain Pat Cummins on Tuesday confirmed that Hazlewood would have played at his home venue had he been fit, but he and Richardson (leg) will both now turn their attention to the fifth Test in Hobart. “It’s no secret that if Joshy Hazlewood was available then he was going to play,” Cummins told reporters as per cricket.com. “He’s been just a brilliant bowler for us for a long period of time.”
Australia XI: Marcus Harris, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, and Scott Boland.
Meanwhile, England has also named their playing XI ahead of the fourth Ashes Test match. England has made one change from the side that played in the third Test in Melbourne, with Stuart Broad coming in to replace Ollie Robinson. Joe Root’s side is currently 3-0 down in the series.
England Men’s XI for fourth Ashes Test: Haseeb Hameed, Zak Crawley, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Mark Wood, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.