Match Details
Commentary
England Playing XI: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue
TEAM NEWS:
ENGLAND:
-Having already lost the Ashes with two games to spare, the visitors have made two changes to their playing XI for the Boxing Day Test, starting on Friday in Melbourne
-Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the remainder of the series due to a side strain. He put in a brilliant effort across the first three Tests, including a half-century with the bat in Adelaide. However, the right-arm pacer, who has had a long history of injuries, will now return to the home post this red-ball game at MCG for rehabilitation. England captain Ben Stokes praised Archer for his "exceptional" effort with the red cherry
-So, it is Archer and Ollie Pope, who make way for Gus Atkinson and Jacob Bethell in the XI
-Atkinson was left out of the third Test, but with Archer now unavailable due to an injury, the England team management have gone back to the Surrey seamer
-Pope, as expected, has been dropped after a string of low scores, managing only 125 across 6 innings in the ongoing Ashes, with 46 in the first innings of the series opener being his highest
-Bethell has blown hot and cold ever since his dream Test debut in New Zealand. The talented young Warwickshire southpaw has finally got an opportunity to taste the Ashes cricket, and it would be one of his bucket list ticked off to make his Ashes debut on Boxing Day at MCG
ENGLAND:
-Having already lost the Ashes with two games to spare, the visitors have made two changes to their playing XI for the Boxing Day Test, starting on Friday in Melbourne
-Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the remainder of the series due to a side strain. He put in a brilliant effort across the first three Tests, including a half-century with the bat in Adelaide. However, the right-arm pacer, who has had a long history of injuries, will now return to the home post this red-ball game at MCG for rehabilitation. England captain Ben Stokes praised Archer for his "exceptional" effort with the red cherry
-So, it is Archer and Ollie Pope, who make way for Gus Atkinson and Jacob Bethell in the XI
-Atkinson was left out of the third Test, but with Archer now unavailable due to an injury, the England team management have gone back to the Surrey seamer
-Pope, as expected, has been dropped after a string of low scores, managing only 125 across 6 innings in the ongoing Ashes, with 46 in the first innings of the series opener being his highest
-Bethell has blown hot and cold ever since his dream Test debut in New Zealand. The talented young Warwickshire southpaw has finally got an opportunity to taste the Ashes cricket, and it would be one of his bucket list ticked off to make his Ashes debut on Boxing Day at MCG
Head-to-Head in Tests:
Matches Played: 364
Australia Won: 155
England Won: 112
Drawn: 97
Matches Played: 364
Australia Won: 155
England Won: 112
Drawn: 97
England Squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope (wk), Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue
Australia Squad: Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Steven Smith (c), Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster, Jhye Richardson, Todd Murphy