Boxing Day Test Archives

Australia name squad for Boxing Day Ashes Test

MELBOURNE: Australia will take an all-pace attack into the Boxing Day Ashes Test, skipper Steve Smith said Thursday, while Josh Inglis was dropped from the squad with selectors preferring Usman Khawaja.

The hosts head into the Boxing Day Test with an unassailable 3-0 lead over England, but are without pace spearhead Pat Cummins and veteran spinner Nathan Lyon.

Cummins is being managed after his return in the third Adelaide Test after a lengthy lay off with a lower back injury and will play no further part in the Ashes.

Lyon had surgery this week for a torn hamstring and faces a long recovery.

Todd Murphy was called up as cover for Lyon, but Smith said they had opted for a pace attack given the “quite furry” surface at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

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

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

“You just got to play what surface you’re presented with,” he added.

“This one 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.”

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Australia named a 12-man squad, with a final decision on who leads the attack alongside Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland being made at the toss.

One of Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, or Brendan Doggett will miss out.

Doggett and Neser played in the second Test in Brisbane, but made way in Adelaide when Cummins and Lyon returned.

Richardson is in his first squad for four years after three shoulder surgeries.

Smith missed the third Test with vertigo symptoms and will slot back in at number four.

Khawaja filled his role in Adelaide, hitting 82 and 40, and slides down to five ahead of Alex Carey and Cameron Green, with Inglis missing out.

Smith, who captained Australia in the first two Tests during Cummins’ absence, said he was fully recovered and feeling “100 percent” fit.

“I was watching in the hotel those first two days (in Adelaide) and wished I could have been out there, but it was the right call at that stage because I was struggling,” he said of his vertigo, an issue that has plagued him before.

Australia squad for fourth Ashes Test

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

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Labuschagne stands firm, Pakistan pick three wickets on the first day of Boxing Day Test

MELBOURNE: Marnus Labuschagne remained unbeaten on 44 as Australia scored 187-3 against Pakistan on the first day of the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Tuesday.

The second Test was interrupted by rain in the latter half of the day, consequently allowing only 66 overs of play.

Australian batters Marnus Labuschagne (44) and Travis Head (9) will resume the batting against Pakistan on the second day.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan captain Shan Masood opted to bowl first when the coin flipped in his favour, citing the weather and conditions at MCG as the reason for his decision.

Australia managed to score 90-1 in the first session on the first day of Boxing Day Test on the back of a solid opening partnership between Usman Khawaja and David Warner.

The 90-run partnership was broken at the stroke of lunch as Warner was caught by Babar Azam off Salman Ali Agha after being dropped earlier by Abdullah Shafique.

Warned played an innings of 38 off 83 with three boundaries.

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Australia could only add 23 runs from 15 overs in the second session before rain interruption halted the play, while Pakistan removed Usman Khawaja, who was caught by Salman Ali Agha in slips on Hasan Ali’s bowling.

Khawaja scored 42 runs from 101 balls with five boundaries.

The rain prompted umpires to take an early Tea break with the scoreboard reading 114-2.

Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith resumed their innings in the last session as they added 46 runs for the third wicket before the latter was dismissed.

Smith was caught behind off Aamer Jamal after scoring 26 runs.

Travis Head then joined Labuschagne and together they took Australia’s total to 187-3 at the end of the first day’s play during the Boxing Day Test.

Playing XIs

Australia

David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

Pakistan

Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (capt), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamer Jamal

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Saud Shakeel upbeat for the Boxing Day Test

MELBOURNE: Pakistan’s middle-order batter Saud Shakeel on Thursday expressed his excitement to feature in the Boxing Day Test against Australia, commencing on December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

While talking to the media during the Pakistan team’s training session in Melbourne, the 28-year-old batter shared that as a kid he used to wake up at 5 am to watch the Boxing Day Test.

“It is very special for me to be part of Boxing Day. When I was young, I used to wake up at 5 am and watch the Boxing Day Test,” said Saud Shakeel. “And now that I am about to play the same Test, the excitement is double.”

He further opened up about his experience of playing in the Perth Test.

“It was challenging, as we played a practise match in Canberra’s low bounce track, while in Perth, the conditions were different.”

“It was my first experience of playing on a drop-in pitch and I have learnt a lot from it,” added Shakeel.

Saud Shakeel scored 28 and 24 runs in two innings during the first Test against Australia, which the hosts won by a huge margin of 360 runs.

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Pakistan’s batting lineup unfolded at a mere 89 in the fourth innings while chasing a mammoth total of 450.

The touring side could yield 271 runs in their first innings in reply to Australis’s 487.

Pakistan, who were at the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) points table with a perfect, record, got another blow to their campaign when the International Cricket Council (ICC) penalized them for maintaining a slow over-rate during the Perth Test.

Pakistan were fined 10 per cent of their match fee and docked two ICC WTC points.

The sanction after a hammering defeat, consequently resulted in them slipping to the second spot with a winning rate of 61.11.

Two-time runners-up India benefitted from Pakistan’s demotion and reached the summit with a winning percentage of 66.67.

Australia squad:

Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, David Warner

Pakistan’s squad:

Shan Masood (captain), Sarfaraz Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Aamir Jamal, Khurram Shahzad, Sajid Khan, Abrar Ahmed

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Bowlers’ day at Melbourne as Australia remain in control

MELBOURNE: England finished the second day of Boxing Day Test at 31/4 before James Anderson’s four wickets helped England dismiss Australia for 267 in the first inning, on Monday.

Australian bowlers fired back at the English batters; taking four wickets for just 31 runs. Joe Root (12*) and Ben Stokes (2*) managed to hold their nerves calm before stumps called on the second day. The two batters will resume the innings for England with a 51-runs deficit.

Earlier, England’s top-order failed again, the opening pair could only add seven runs. Zak Crawley was the batter, who dismissed after scoring just five. Soon after, Dawid Malan dismissed after bagging a golden duck. Haseeb Hameed (7) and Jack Leach (0) also failed to make an impact with the bat.

For Australia, Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc picked two wickets each.

Australian batters, resuming at an overnight score of 61/1, also could not make the most of the provided foundation. Marcus Harris top-scored with his 76 off 189 balls; hitting seven boundaries. The rest of their batters could not go big, and the Aussies, in the end, bowled for 267.

For England, James Anderson starred; picking up four wickets. Ollie Robbinson and Mark Wood each took wickets. Whereas, Stokes and Leach shared one wicket apiece.

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Aussie bowlers put England on the back foot in Boxing Day Test

MELBOURNE: Australia bowled out England for a paltry 185 in the first innings of the Boxing Day Test before adding 61/1 at the stumps of day 1.

In the third match of the ongoing Ashes series, Australian captain – Pat Cummins won the toss and invited England to bat first. Batting first, the touring side again failed with the bat; losing their opener, Haseeb Hameed for a duck.

With Hameed’s duck in the first innings, England completed 50 ducks in the ongoing year of Test cricket.

Soon after, the side kept losing wickets at a consistent pace, and none of their batters could score much except their skipper, Joe Root, who scored a hard fought fifty. He scored 50 off 82 balls; hitting four boundaries. Jonny Bairstow, too, showed resistance; scoring 35 runs, but, he too could not hold on for long against the Australian bowling attack.

For Asutralia, Cummins and Nathan Lyon each bagged three wickets, while Mitchell Starc claimed two wickets. Scott Boland and Cameron Green each struck out a batter.

In response, Australian openers looked solid, the pair added unbeaten 50-runs partnership; putting their side into the commanding position against the touring side. David Warner was keeping the scoreboard ticking, while Marcus Harris took his time to settle.

The both openers seemed to have finished the day without a loss, but, Warner fell short in the second last over of the match edging the ball into the hands of Zak Crawley on James Anderson’s out-swinging delivery. Warner scored 38 off 42 balls; smashing five boundaries.

Harris (20*) and the nightwachman for the Kangaroos – Nathan Lyon (0*) will resume the proceedings for Australia on day two.

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