Australia have announced the squad for the third Ashes Test starting on Sunday (December 26) as Scott Boland is set to make his debut. Australia, lead the five-match Ashes series by 2-0 and will go into the encounter at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with spring in their steps. Aussies will also have captain Pat Cummins back for the Boxing Day clash after he missed out in the Adelaide Test as he contacted a Covid-19 contracted friend.
Boland will coincidently make his debut at his home ground of MCG as he represents Victoria at the domestic level. The 32-year-old, has already played for Australia in limited overs having played 14 ODIs and three T20Is. The experienced domestic bowler, took 8/89 last month against New South Wales and has 91 domestic wickets at the MCG.
"Really excited for Scott debuting here on his home ground," Cummins said in a pre-match interview.
The Aussies have injury concerns ahead of the match as Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser are also set to be sidelined.
"Jhye and Ness pulled up a little bit sore after Adelaide, so we made the decision to bring in Scotty. It's a luxury to have someone like him ready to go. He's fresh.
"We earmarked him as a chance for here and the SCG. We think he's really well suited. His record speaks for itself here in domestic cricket. Home ground and having someone fresh and ready to go were big factors,” 28-year-old Cummins said.
In Richardson’s case, he said,
“He's pretty sore, We were umming and ahing. He had a bit of bowl-out yesterday.
"We felt seven days off, give him enough rest. He's got a small leg injury which is nothing major but we felt rather than risk a longer term injury, give him a week off.”
Australia will also have to do without Josh Hazlewood for the post-Christmas encounter as he is ruled out due to a side injury. He could be available for the fourth Test starting on January 5 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). England on the other hand will have to pull all the stocks in the market as they need to win the MCG Test. Anything less than a win will see Australia retain the Ashes for the third consecutive time. England last won the Ashes in 2015 and will have work to do, to reclaim the urn.
England will also make four changes to the squad as experienced Stuart Broad is set to miss out. Chris Woakes, Rory Burns and Ollie Pope are the other members of the team who will warm the bench at the MCG. If no late injuries occur, England will go with Zac Crawley, Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood and Jack Leach for the do or die Test.
