Australia opt for all-pace attack for the Boxing Day Test

On the eve of the Boxing Day Test match, stand-in skipper Smith says are yet to settle on their final XI for the fourth Ashes Test. 

With the Ashes already retained, Australia head to Melbourne aiming to make it four wins in a row, but the hosts face several selection decisions ahead of the marquee Boxing Day Test.

With Nathan Lyon sidelined due to injury sustained in the Adelaide Test, Todd Murphy was added to the squad. However, Australia have chosen to go in with four pacers on a pitch expected to offer plenty of movement, according to the returning stand-in skipper Steve Smith.

“We’re going to be playing four quicks and no spinner. (The pitch) has 10mm of grass, quite furry, quite green.” said Smith.

“I dare say it’s going to offer quite a bit, particularly (day one) is similar to today’s conditions, quite cold and overcast so I dare say there’s going to be quite a bit of movement.”

The final call on the playing XI will be taken after Australia’s last training session on Christmas morning.

“We’ve landed on a 12, we just want to take a look at the wicket tomorrow.” said Smith.

Smith attributed the decision to go with four seamers to what appears to be a seam-friendly pitch, emphasizing that it had nothing to do with Todd Murphy’s ability. Murphy will have to wait to add to his seven Test caps, having last played for Australia in February earlier this year.

You just got to play what surface you’re presented with; this one looks like it is going to offer a fair bit of assistance for the seam bowlers and the weather throughout the week looks conducive for that too.

“I think if Nathan (Lyon) was (available), we’d probably still be having the same conversation as well, so it’s definitely nothing to do with Todd’s skill.” said Smith.

Steve Smith returns to the squad after missing the third Ashes Test due to an inner-ear issue. In his absence, Usman Khawaja, who was initially set to miss the match, was promoted to bat at No.4, and the 39-year-old seized the opportunity with scores of 82 and 40, performances which helped him retain his place in the side for the Melbourne Test.

“I had a few bad days before the (Adelaide) Test and the first couple of days of the (match until) all my vestibular stuff settled down.” said Smith

“It was a shame to miss that one, it looked like a pretty nice wicket for batting. I was watching in the hotel those first two days and wished I could have been out there, but it was the right call at that stage (because) I was struggling.”

“(It was) fortunate that Usman was able to come in and play the way he did … in that first innings.”

While Smith reflected on his own interrupted build-up,Australia‘s quick Scott Boland expressed how the bowlers have also benefited quietly from a tactical tweak behind the stumps.

Boland acknowledged the impact Alex Carey has had by standing up to the stumps, whose influence was evident during the day-night Test at the Gabba, where he stood up to both Michael Neser and Boland. Four of Neser’s five second-innings wickets came with Carey up the stumps, including key dismissals of Ben Stokes and Will Jacks.

The tactic continued to pay dividends in Adelaide, where Carey stood up for most of England’s second innings, taking a sharp bat-pad catch off Jacks before Brydon Carse was bowled while caught on the crease.

Boland said trust has been central to making the strategy work.

“But I’ve got full confidence in ‘Kez’ (Carey) that if I hit my normal length, and if the ball does go above the stumps, he’s got amazing hands.”

“We speak every couple of overs… if he’s feeling that he’s better off being back, then I trust him. If he’s like, ‘No, I want to come up, I think we can shut them on the crease,’ then I back his judgment there as well.”

“The Gabba was pretty bouncy and he was up to the stumps for a fair bit of it, catching balls above waist high. I bowled a bouncer and he caught that. So I’ve got full trust in him up there.”

Australia squad for 4th Test: Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson.

Australia,

Australia, under Steve Smith, went into the second Ashes Test in Brisbane without a frontline spinner. Three weeks on, Australia will repeat that strategy for the Boxing Day Test, once again under Smith’s captaincy. Nathan Lyon has been ruled out with injury while his replacement Todd Murphy misses the cut as the hosts have opted to go with four pacers instead. “We landed on a 12. I just want to take a look at the wicket tomorrow. We’re going to be playing four quicks, no spinner,” Smith said on Christmas Day.

Australia took this route after getting a glimpse of the green-top surface one day out of the Test. “10 mils of grass, quite furry, quite green,” Smith said of the pitch, a day out from the festive fixture.

The conditions too are expected to be much cooler with temperatures forecast to hit a maximum of 26 degrees in the first three days. “So, I dare say it’s going to offer quite a bit. Specifically, I think tomorrow [will be] similar conditions [to] today, quite cold and overcast. So, yeah, I dare say there’s going to be quite a bit of movement in that surface.

The pitch and the conditions played a major role in Murphy missing out and Smith said that it wasn’t down to skill. “I think a lot of the wickets we’re playing on at present are definitely more seam-friendly than spin-friendly. Last week was an anomaly [in Adelaide]. We saw some rough and we saw Nathan come in to play big time last week.

“You’ve just got to play what surface you’re presented with and this one out here looks like it’s going to offer a fair bit of assistance for the seam bowlers and the weather throughout the week looks conducive for that too. I think if Nathan were here, we’d probably still be having the same conversation as well. So it’s certainly nothing to do with Todd’s skill.”

Jhye Richardson, meanwhile, is in the mix after being added to the squad for this fourth Test.

He last appeared in a Test in Ashes 2021 in Adelaide, where he picked up a five-fer in the second innings. Talking of the 29-year-old, Smith was excited to have Richardson back in the mix of the side. “He’s had a pretty long layoff with injury and we know the skills that he can possess. He’s done it against England before in the Ashes and it’s great to see him back on the table.”

He’s just got a great set of skills. Swings the ball both ways, seams it, accurate. A bit more skiddy than some of the others. He’s a little bit shorter, bowls decent pace. So, we’ve seen when he’s got the opportunity at this level, he’s been outstanding.”

The Australian captain also backed Cameron Green who has scored only 76 runs in four innings and picked up two wickets so far across 37 overs bowled. “He’s bowling nicely. Obviously, he picked up a key wicket in the last game with Harry Brook with a nice ball,” Smith said. “I think in terms of his batting, he probably hasn’t got the output that he’s wanted so far but, he’s had a couple of really good starts where he’s looked nice and comfortable at the crease and, it’s just about making those starts and turning them into bigger scores and, we’ve seen how talented he is.”

“See what he can do in the game with bat, ball and in the field. He saves truckload of runs at gully there with balls that no one else is going to stop. So, hopefully he can have a really good week this week,” added Smith.

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