Pat Cummins has confirmed that Australia will name an unchanged XI for this week’s Boxing Day Test against Pakistan at the MCG.
Speaking to reporters in Melbourne on Monday morning, the Australian captain revealed that Victorian hero Scott Boland would not play the marquee fixture, with the hosts sticking with the same team as the series opener in Perth.
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Boland, who made his Test debut during the corresponding match in 2021, has taken ten wickets at 13.80 at the iconic venue, including his career-best 6-7 against England.
Earlier this week, teammate Mitchell Starc declared he was confident Australia’s world-class pace trio could play all five Tests this home summer.
“It’s certainly not a schedule like what we had in the Ashes,” Starc said.
“We’ve had a few days in between Perth and coming to Melbourne, and then there’s a few days between the Pakistan series and the West Indies series.
“We look back at the Ashes schedule and having six Test matches in eight weeks was something that doesn’t happen all the time. The way we’re all feeling at the minute, we’re ready to go.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan has unveiled a 12-player squad for the Boxing Day Test, with wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan replacing Sarfaraz Ahmed.
The second Test between Australia and Pakistan gets underway at the MCG on Tuesday after 10.30am AEDT.
Australian XI for Boxing Day Test
David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Pakistan squad for Boxing Day Test
Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Afridi, Hassan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamir Jamal, Sajid Khan
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