England announce playing XI for MCG Test: Archer out of Ashes, Bethell in but still no place for Bashir

England have announced their playing eleven for the fourth Test of the Ashes 2025-26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Pacer Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the remainder of the Ashes owing to 'left side strain'. Gus Atkinson walks back into the side as Archer’s replacement.

Jacob Bethell is set to make his Ashes debut, replacing an underperforming Ollie Pope who has been subjected to scrutiny for lack of runs at the top of the order.

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Meanwhile, England have opted not to include their 'no.1 England spinner' Shoaib Bashir despite much assistance on the pitch for spinners. Will Jacks will play the spin-bowling role. Also, Bethell can be handy as a left-arm spinner. The 22-year-old scored 71 in Brisbane for England Lions against Australia A earlier this month.

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Duckett has retained his place despite videos of him being drunk on the Noosa trip have surfaced on social media. Stokes has backed Duckett amidst widespread backlash and England Cricket Board (ECB) launching an investigation.

"It's all pretty fresh and pretty new," Stokes said. "I've obviously reached out and spoken to him and offered my complete support with him throughout this. He's such an important player for this team, and we've still got two games of cricket to play. He's an incredibly influential person within this group."

Duckett is yet to cross the 30-run mark in an innings in the Ashes 2025-26. From six innings, he has managed to score just 95 runs.

England’s playing XI for Boxing Day Test -

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue.

Australia’s squad for MCG Test -

Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster.