Melbourne – December 20 (Online): Australia’s men’s cricket team will remain unchanged for rest of the Ashes test series, media reports claimed Monday.
Australia named an unchanged 15-man squad for the remainder of the Ashes series against England.
Captain Pat Cummins and fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood will both return to the squad for the third Test at Melbourne, starting on 26 December.
Cummins, 28, missed the ongoing second Test in Adelaide after being deemed a close contact of someone who tested positive for Covid-19.
Hazlewood, 30, was ruled out of the second Test with a side strain.
Australia lead the five-match series 1-0 and look set to win the second Test.
Cummins and Hazlewood are ranked first and fourth in the Test bowling rankings respectively, Cummins, who returned a negative PCR test, has been able to return home to New South Wales to complete his self-isolation before he will travel to Melbourne.
He will take back the captaincy from Steve Smith, who is leading Australia in Adelaide, having only taken over the reins from former skipper Tim Paine last month.
Seamers Michael Neser and Jhye Richardson have impressed in their place in Adelaide, but both could now be dropped for the Melbourne Test.
Opener Marcus Harris, 29, has retained his place in the squad despite a poor run of scores in the series so far.
After Melbourne, the fourth Test will take place at Sydney, with the fifth, which will also be a day-night match, moved to Hobart from Perth because of Covid-19 restrictions in Western Australia.
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