The Australia and England Ashes Test series will continue on Wednesday, January 5, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with the fourth game of the five-match series.
England, led by Joe Root, hasn't had a lot going for them. With three losing games already under their belts, they have conceded an insurmountable 3-0 lead. In their last 13 tests on Australian soil, the Three Lions have lost 12 of them.
After crushing England in the first three games of the series, Australia already won the Ashes 2021-22 series. Additionally, the hosts Australia has also had a joyous start to their journey in the ICC World Test Championship 2021-22. Australia has moved to the top spot in the WTC 2021-23 points table with a PCT of 100 after winning its first three tests.
Australia win the third Test and retain the Ashes.
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 28, 2021
Scorecard: https://t.co/nJMtTINVx5#Ashes | #AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/hExjpxHMrw
Can Root and Co break their losing streak in Test cricket? Or will Australia continue their home dominance looking for the whitewash?
Match Toss Time: 10:00 Local (04:30 IST)
Match Start Time: 10:30 Local (05:00 IST)
Match Venue: Sydney Cricket Stadium, Sydney
Head to Head
Matches Played: 351, AUS: 146, ENG: 110, Draw: 95
Weather Conditions And Pitch
Team News
The Australians have brought in Usman Khawaja to replace Travis Head, who is in isolation in Melbourne after testing positive for COVID-19. The batsman hasn’t played a Test since the 2019 Ashes. Scott Boland is also set to retain his spot after becoming the Player of the Match in the MCG Test and with Josh Hazlewood yet to attain full fitness.
Broad returns to England playing XI after Ollie Robinson was forced to miss out because of a shoulder injury. Broad will have fellow speedsters James Anderson and Mark Wood as his pace bowling partners. The English batsmen, barring Dawid Malan and skipper Root, have failed to impress and will have a point to prove.
Probable Playing XI
Australia (AUS): Marcus Harris, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
England (ENG): Haseeb Hameed, Zak Crawley, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Mark Wood, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
Must-Picks
Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne is in terrific form and has risen into the number one position in the ICC Test batsman rankings. Scott Boland making a terrific debut looks to be in a rich vein of form, expected to impress in the coming match.
English Batsman Joe Root has been the lone warrior producing consistency throughout the series, a good day with the bat can be expected of him.
Scott Boland will play in Sydney... but Pat Cummins knows he can't expect him to hit the extreme heights he did in Melbourne! 😅 #Ashes pic.twitter.com/hWqJ38G8nl
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 4, 2022
AUS v ENG fantasy team
Captain and Vice-Captain picks
Prediction
With Australia heavily dominating the English in this series, much of the same is expected. With the English batsman's bar Joe Root having a disastrous tour and with nothing much going for the bowlers too. It's tough to see the English making a turnaround and all signs point towards a whitewash.
Cricwizz predicts Australia to win the 4th Test of the 5-match series.
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