Australia could pull the trigger on a big selection gamble in what would represent a 140-year first for the Sydney Cricket Ground ahead of the fifth Ashes Test against England.
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Stand-in skipper Steve Smith was keeping England guessing when quizzed on the make-up of Australia’s XI for the final Test, telling reporters he could play “a couple of all-rounders, a spinner” or even “no spinner”.
“We’ll figure it out once we see the surface and see which way we want to go about it,” he added.
If selected, Todd Murphy was in line to play his first Test on home soil but as was the case at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, it sounds like he may be the unlucky one to miss out again.
Code Sports reported that as it stands, Australia is leaning towards playing without a specialist spinner, which would mean Murphy is left out.
The publication added that a final call will be made on match morning when Australia inspects the pitch.
Should Murphy miss out on selection, it will be the first time Australia did not field a frontline spinner at the SCG since 1887-88 according to statistician Adam Morehouse.
Like Australia, England skipper Ben Stokes was also tight-lipped on the visitors’ XI with the state of the pitch on match day also set to play a decisive role.
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“No one really has a clue” | 00:47
“I mean, we try and act like we know what we’re doing when we’re looking down at the pitch and rubbing it and knocking it — no one really has a clue to be honest,” Stokes said.
“You can only just try and give yourself the best chance of thinking: right, what 11 do we need to give us a chance of winning this?”
England has named a 12-man squad with Matthew Potts coming in for Gus Atkinson while spinner Shoaib Bashir remains the frame for selection.
While England is no hope of reclaiming the urn after dropping the first three Tests of the series, Stokes said there was still plenty of reasons for the tourists to lift at the SCG.
“This is a big game, purely because we’re walking out there representing England,” he said.
“The Ashes, unfortunately for us, hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to, but we’ve got one more game in a big series.
“And it’s a real big one for us. So although we can’t get the thing that we came here for, we’ve still got a chance to go there and win a game of cricket.”
The action gets underway on Sunday at 10.30am AEDT, although the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a shower or two with a 25 per cent chance of up to 10 millimetres of rain.
Fortunately, the showers aren’t expected until the afternoon and early evening so there is a strong chance of at least getting some runs on the board before then.
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