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Ahead of the fourth Ashes Test against England, Australia's stand-in captain has opened up about the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) surface, saying that the pitch will offer a lot to the fast bowlers.
Ahead of the Boxing Day Test, starting on December 26, the Baggry Green have named their playing XI, opting for an all-pace attack. Stand-in captain Smith has returned to the side after missing the third Adelaide Test in place of regular captain Pat Cummins. The hosts will wait until the morning of the game to make the final call on the composition of quicks. Apart from Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland, Australia has to choose between Jhye Richardson, Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett. Off-spinner Todd Murphy was omitted from the trimmed-down 12-man squad named by Smith. This means for the second time in the Ashes series, Australia won't have a specialist spinner in the playing XI. "I dare say it's going to offer quite a bit. Particularly, I think tomorrow's similar conditions to today, quite cold and overcast. I dare say there's going to be quite a bit of movement in that surface," Smith said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. The stand-in captain of Australia said that even if veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who injured his hamstring in Adelaide, were available for selection for the fourth Test, there would still have been a discussion about not playing a spinner. "I think a lot of the wickets we're playing on at present are certainly more seam-friendly than spin-friendly. Last week [in Adelaide] was an anomaly. We saw some rough and we saw Nathan come in to play big-time last week. It's a tricky one. You've just got to play what surface you're presented with," he said "This one out here looks like it's going to offer a fair bit of assistance for the seam bowlers. 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. It's certainly nothing to do with Todd's skill. We know he's a quality bowler. He's played some games for Australia and done really well. It's great to see him here this week. I'm sure he's going to be a pretty good chance to play next week in Sydney," Smith added. Cummins has been rested for the Melbourne Test, having only recently returned from a back injury, with the skipper a chance of appearing in the final Test of the series in Sydney from January 4. Australia registered an 82-run triumph, taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the ongoing Ashes series against England. Australia XII for fourth Test: Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (captain), Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey (wicketkeeper), Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson. (ANI)
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