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Ashes 2021-22: England Make Four Changes For MCG Test, Australia Hand Scott Boland Debut

The 32-year-old Victoria pacer Scott Boland becomes the second Indigenous men's player to debut for Australia in Tests. Australia lead the Ashes 2021-22 series 2-0 after winning in Adelaide and Brisbane.

Ashes 2021-22: England Make Four Changes For MCG Test, Australia Hand Scott Boland Debut
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England have made four changes with Jonny Bairstow returning back while Australia hand Scott Boland debut for the third Ashes 2021-22 Test starting on Sunday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Australia lead the series 2-0. (More Cricket News)

Zak Crawley, Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood and Jack Leach come in for England replacing Rory Burns, Ollie Pope, Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad respectively. Meanwhile, Australia skipper Pat Cummins is also back in the side after missing the second Test in Adelaide.

England will hope the changes will bring back their fortunes. Crawley will replace Burns at the top while Bairstow back at No.6. Ollie Pope, who got the nod ahead of Bairstow in the first two Tests, has really struggled with the bat with scores of 34, 4, 5 and 4.

바카라śIt바카라™s a massive game for us, and a brilliant venue to come and play cricket at. We know we need to bring our best cricket because we haven바카라™t done that so far and that is disappointing. With the situation we바카라™re in we need to get there fast,바카라ť England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler said.

Boland replaced Jhye Richardson who had a minor leg injury during his five-wicket haul in Adelaide as Australia defeated England by 275 runs. Cummins, who was left out of the second Test match in Adelaide just before the start for coming in contact with a Covid-19 positive person, comes in for Michael Neser.

바카라śIt is huge for him (Boland) to become the second Indigenous (men바카라™s) Test cricketer. Dizzy (Jason Gillespie) was the first. In Australia we have a rich history going back 50-60,000 years and it is great that it is starting to be reflected in our team,바카라ť Cummins told reporters on Saturday.

Boland has a rich history at the MCG. The 32-year-old has taken 96 wickets in 27 first-class games at the MCG and his inclusion boosts the Australian pace attack alongside Mitchell Starc and Cummins. Boland바카라™s 15 wickets in the Sheffield Shield this season also propelled him to Australia A side ahead of the Ashes 2021-22.

바카라śThe first thing you've got to wrap your head around playing at the MCG is you바카라™ll have to bowl a lot of overs more often than not and he does that really well,바카라ť Cummins added. 바카라śThe Shield game they won against New South Wales, think he bowled 50 overs.

바카라śHis pace stays up, he바카라™s always at you, bowls really well to left-handers. Asks a lot of questions around that fourth stump, knee roll, a bit of nibble each way. He바카라™s just really well suited here. We earmarked him as a chance for SCG and here, we feel he바카라™s really well suited. His record speaks for itself here in domestic cricket.바카라ť

Playing XIs

Australia: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.

England: Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, Jack Leach, Jimmy Anderson.

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