With regular captain Pat Cummins opting out of the remainder of the Ashes series, Steve Smith will once again be leading the Australian team in the fourth Ashes Test that will commence from December 26 in Melbourne. With the Baggy Greens having already won the series by coming out victorious in the first three Tests, Cummins has decided to rest for the final two games due to fitness and workload management issues.
Smith will have a chance of surpassing Virat Kohli on an elite list during the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne. The Australia batter can become the player with the fourth-most catches in international cricket if he manages to take two more in the upcoming match. He currently has 341 catches under his name while Kohli is barely ahead with 342.
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Players with the most catches in international cricket -
1. Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) - 440 catches
2. Ricky Ponting (Australia) - 364 catches
3. Ross Taylor (New Zealand) - 354 catches
4. Virat Kohli (India) - 342 catches
5. Steve Smith (Australia) - 341 catches
Smith's performance in The Ashes so far
Meanwhile, Smith's batting performance in The Ashes hasn't been great. In the four innings that he has played in the series so far, he has only scored 103 runs including a half-century. The 36-year-old will be aiming to score his first century of the ongoing assignment in the Boxing Day Test where the Baggy Greens will be looking to make it four wins from as many matches.
Both teams make big changes for 4th Test
Both the teams have announced their squads for the upcoming Test and have made significant changes. While Australia have dropped Josh Inglis and have decided to bring back Jhye Richardson into the set-up after four years, England have handed a Test debut to Jacob Bethell as star pacer Jofra Archer got ruled out of the remainder of the series due to a side strain.
Australia's XII for 4th Ashes 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.
England's playing XI for 4th Ashes 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.