Australia v England, fourth Ashes Test: match preview – cricket.com.au

Get the broadcast info, latest team news, start times and more for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne
Who: Australia v England
 
What: Fourth NRMA Insurance Test, men’s Ashes
 
When: December 26-30, first ball 10.30am AEDT (11.30pm GMT)
 
Where: MCG, Melbourne
 
Live scores: Match Centre
 
How to watch: Channel Seven, 7plus, Kayo Sports and Foxtel
How to listen: ABC Radio, Triple M and SEN Radio. New this summer, the CA Live app has teamed up with NRMA Insurance so you can listen to radio and commentary streams in real-time with no delay to live play using zero-latency technology. Cricket Radio (both standard and real-time) is available anywhere in Australia in the CA Live match centre, however, some audio streams, such as TV commentary, may be exclusive to fans attending a match. Find out more here.
 
Buy tickets: Following a final release, there are still a limited number of tickets available for days one, two and three. Tickets also remain for day four. Get them here
 
Officials: Chris Gaffaney and Kumar Dharmasena (field), Ahsan Raza (third), Phil Gillespie (fourth), Jeff Crowe (match referee)
 
News and reactions post-play: cricket.com.au and the CA Live app. The Unplayable Podcast will also be dropping a new episode after each days’ play during the Ashes. Join host Josh Schonafinger and Louis Cameron to recap all the action and talking points from the MCG. And you can listen to the back catalogue of episodes below.

Listen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsListen on iHeart Radio
First Session: 10.30am – 12.30pm (11.30pm – 1.30am GMT)
 
Second Session: 1.10pm – 3.10pm (2.10am – 4.10am GMT)
 
Third Session: 3.30pm – 5.30pm (4.30am – 6.30am GMT)
 
*An extra 30 minutes is available to complete daily overs
First Test: Australia won by eight wickets
Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets
Third Test: Australia won by 82 runs
Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT
Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT
Australia squad: 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
 
Ins: Todd Murphy, Jhye Richardson. Outs: Pat Cummins (management), Nathan Lyon (hamstring)
Todd Murphy was recalled to the Test squad to replace the injured Nathan Lyon, but his dream of a home Boxing Day Test was curtailed by returning stand-in captain Steve Smith revealing the hosts would play four fast bowlers at the MCG. Veteran off-spinner Lyon is set for surgery after tearing his right hamstring diving to save a boundary on day five of the Aussies’ Ashes-clinching third Test victory.
Captain Pat Cummins is out for the rest of the series to manage his workloads after taking six wickets to help Australia clinch the Ashes in his return from a back injury in Adelaide. West Australian speedster Jhye Richardson has been included in the squad for the fourth Test squad, joining Brendan Doggett and Michael Neser as the hosts’ third pace option for Boxing Day, presuming Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc pull up well following Sunday’s third Test victory.
Murphy was Australia A’s spinner against England Lions earlier this month, taking 2-7 and 1-57, which included the wicket of the tourists’ Test squad member Jacob Bethell. Richardson also played in that innings victory over the Lions, claiming 4-35 and 1-41, and is in the frame to play his first Test since the last home Ashes in 2021-22, where he helped bowl Australia to a 275-run victory in Adelaide with five wickets in the second innings.
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue
With the Ashes now officially lost, England will be looking to salvage what they can from the remaining Tests. But with just a 16-man touring party – featuring only one reserve batter (Jacob Bethell) – Ben Stokes’ side don’t have many options to turn to as they seek to salvage something from this Ashes tour.
Ollie Pope failed to survive after scores of three and 17 in Adelaide, with Jacob Bethell coming into the side to bat at No.3, which England announced on Wednesday afternoon. Speedster Jofra Archer has also been ruled out for the rest of the series with a side strain. Despite the scoreline, there’s plenty on the line for the visiting team who will be desperate to return home on a positive note after losing the Ashes in just 11 days of cricket.
Australia (possible): Jake Weatherald, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Scott Boland
Australia will make a final call on their XI before the toss on Boxing Day, naming a squad of 12 on match eve. Steve Smith returns to lead the side in Pat Cummins’ absence and confirmed the hosts would play an all-pace attack in the fourth Ashes Test. Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser and returning quick Jhye Richardson are in line to fill the final two spots alongside Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland.
Smith’s return from an inner-ear issue means Josh Inglis has been squeezed out of the XI, with veteran batter Usman Khawaja doing enough to hold his spot with scores of 82 and 40 following his late reprieve in Adelaide. Khawaja will slide to No.5 with Smith’s return, with Alex Carey to remain at six following his century and 72 in Australia’s Ashes-clinching third Test win, while allrounder Cameron Green will bat at No.7.
After taking an unassailable 3-0 lead, Australia were forced into two of their changes for the fourth Test at the MCG, with Cummins (management) and Nathan Lyon (hamstring) to miss the rest of the series. Australia opting for specialist fast bowlers means Victorian spinner Todd Murphy’s dream of a home Boxing Day Test has been put on hold for now, while Richardson is edging closer to his first Test in four years following a run of injuries since his last appearance in the 2021-22 home Ashes.
England (confirmed): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue
 
Ins: Jacob Bethell, Gus Atkinson. Outs: Jofra Archer (side strain), Ollie Pope (omitted)
England were left with no choice but to change up to their batting line up for the fourth Test with not enough first innings runs costing them in all three Tests so far. Young gun Jacob Bethell comes into the XI at the expense of Ollie Pope, who hasn’t passed 50 runs in 16 Test innings against Australia.
England confirmed Bethell will bat at No.3; one of two changes for the visitors with Jofra Archer to miss the rest of the series with a side strain. It means that Brydon Carse, who went at more than four-and-a-half runs per over in Adelaide, holds his spot, as does Josh Tongue who impressed following his call up for the third Test with four wickets in the second innings. Seamer Gus Atkinson returns after missing the third Test with spinner Shoaib Bashir still nowhere to be seen.
Scott Boland (Australia): More MCG magic from the beloved Victoria? You’d love to see it. Boland made his Test debut on Boxing Day in Australia last home Ashes campaign, famously capturing 6-7 in four overs in the second innings to help secure the urn. Boasts 123 wickets at 23.87 in 33 first-class matches at the MCG since his debut in 2011 – more than any other player in that time – so you wouldn’t put it past him for another big haul.
Zak Crawley (England): England’s top scorer from the second innings with 85 from 151 balls seems to have found his style on Aussie pitches, and it’s not what we’ve come to expect from Crawley in the Bazball era. Batted superbly to keep England’s hopes briefly alive before being beaten by Nathan Lyon through the air. Only managed 12 and five in the last Ashes Boxing Day Test in 2021, but in the fourth Test of the 2023 series he slammed 189 before the rain saved Australia at Old Trafford.
There are few venues more intrinsically linked with the Ashes than the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The ‘G famously held the first ever Test match, between Australia and England, back in March 1877, which the Aussies won by 45 runs.
All told, Australia has played 117 matches at the ‘G, winning 68 and losing just 32. They have been beaten there only four times this century, albeit two of those defeats have taken place in the last seven years, both at the hands of India.
England, though, can draw some inspiration from their recent past. They have won two of their past seven meetings at the MCG (1998-99 and 2010-11) and drew another (2017-18).
Both English wins are among the most famous in Ashes history.
The first, in the Boxing Day Test of 1998, saw a Dean Headley-inspired side rattle home to win by 12 runs. Visions of Headley and Darren Gough tearing through the Australian tail linger long in the Barmy Army’s memory.
Boxing Day in 2010, meanwhile, is famous for Australia’s capitulation on the opening day. England’s pace attack sliced the home side to pieces, bowling them out for just 98 runs.
To rub salt into the wounds, they flayed the Aussie attack to all corners as they ran up a total of 513. The match was to be Ricky Ponting’s last as Test captain as England sealed an Ashes victory on Australian shores for the first time since 1986-87.
Boxing Day at the MCG has become a fabled cricketing tradition over the years.
The ground hosted a Test on Boxing Day three times between 1968 and 1975 before it became a regular part of the cricket calendar in 1980.
Only twice in the years since (1984 and 1994) has the MCG gone without a Test match on Boxing Day, and when the Ashes are up for grabs, the fans turn up in their droves.
In fact, Australia and England have drawn day one crowds of more than 88,000 to three of their past five meetings on December 26.
What sort of turnout will we see at the ‘G this time around?
Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, D: draw
Australia: WWWWWWLWWW
The good times keep on rolling for Australia. Victory in Adelaide made it six on the bounce, something the Aussies have done only eight other times in their history, and not since Ricky Ponting’s side swept away the West Indies, Pakistan and New Zealand in 2009-10.
England: LLLLDWLWWLW
Ouch. England have now lost four Tests in a row, and have only won one of their past seven. In fact, they have only won three of their nine Tests this year, and only one since the start of July. Can they find something special in Melbourne to finish the year on a high?
Nothing has changed here as far as Australia are concerned. They’re top of the pops after almost six months of the new ICC World Test Championship with six wins from six starts. New Zealand has leapt into second thanks to their series win over the Windies, with South Africa only marginally behind in third place. England is languishing in seventh, above only Bangladesh and the West Indies, well behind sixth placed India. The top two teams, ranked according to their percentage of points won, will face off in the WTC final in England in mid-2027. Teams receive 12 points for a Test win, six for a tie and four for draw.
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