Australia’s stand-in skipper Steve Smith recently came forward and talked about his side’s playing XI for the upcoming game against England at the MCG. He gave his take on the four-pacer attack that will be in play in the game.
Australia is all set to take on England in the fourth Test of the ongoing Ashes 2025-26 series. It is worth noting that the hosts will be without the services of regular skipper Pat Cummins in the clash, and veteran batter Steve Smith will be leading the side for the Boxing Day Test against England.
With the clash approaching, Australia announced their XII players that will be participating in the clash at the MCG, and it is worth noting that Australia will be going into the game with an all-out pace attack in the clash. The side has included four pacers in their lineup for the clash, and it could be interesting to see how the side fares in the game.
Speaking on the combination, Australia’s stand-in skipper Steve Smith came forward and gave his take as to why they went with four pacers for the Boxing Day Test.
“We landed on a 12. I want to just take a look at the wicket tomorrow. We’re going to be playing four quicks, no spinner. So, I dare say it’s going to offer quite a bit. Particularly, I think tomorrow [will be] similar conditions [to] today, quite cold and overcast. So, yeah, I dare say there’s going to be quite a bit of movement in that surface,” Steve Smith was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Smith opened up on the nature of the pitch
Furthermore, Smith also gave his take on the nature of the pitch at the MCG. He opined that the previous games, barring Adelaide, have offered help to the pacers, and the hosts are anticipating more of the same.
“You’ve just got to play what surface you’re presented with and this one out here 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. I think if Nathan was here, we’d probably still be having the same conversation as well. So it’s certainly nothing to do with Todd’s skill,” he added.
Australia XII for fourth 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
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