England players taking part in photoshoot before Sydney TestImage Credit source: Robbie Stephenson/PA Images via Getty Images
The ongoing Ashes series between Australia and England has reached its last stage. The Ashes trophy has already gone to host Australia but England has saved some respect by making a comeback in the Melbourne Test. Ben Stokes became the first English captain in almost 15 years to win a Test match in Australia. Now England would like to continue the same trend in the last Test and end the series on a better note and for this it has also announced its team. The only difference is that this time instead of playing-11, 12 players have been announced.
Why did England select 12 players?
The fifth and last Test match of the Ashes series will start from Sunday 4 January at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The series has already gone to Australia by 3-1 but England has a chance to reduce the margin of defeat. However, this time a big challenge for him is that his bowling attack has become a little weaker than before. Star fast bowler Joffra Archer was already out of the fourth and fifth Test, but in the middle of the Melbourne Test, Gus Atkinson was also out of the last Test due to injury.
Struggling with these conditions, England has to play the last Test match and like almost every time, this time too they announced their team for this Test a day or two before the match. The only difference is that this time he has selected 12 players instead of 11. That means which one player will be out, it will be decided around the toss on the day of the match. The reason for this is the weather and pitch of Sydney. Normally this is the summer time in Sydney but this time the weather there is a bit cold. This time grass has been left on the SCG pitch, which has always been helpful to batsmen and spinners, which can benefit the fast bowlers.
Which two players got the chance?
Keeping this in view, England has included a spinner and 3 leading fast bowlers in its playing-12. But out of these 12 players, 10 are the same who were also a part of the Melbourne Test. Only two players are being given a chance for the first time in the current Ashes. One of them is fast bowler Matthew Potts, who has not played any Test match since December 2024. At the same time, off-break bowler Shoaib Bashir, who came as the only leading spinner of England on this tour, has also got a chance this time. Bashir played his last Test match against India at Lord’s, in which he got injured but was successful in leading the team to a thrilling victory.
England’s playing-12 for Sydney Test
Now who among these two will get a place in the final-11, the English team will decide within the next 30-40 hours only after looking at the pitch and weather conditions.
Ben Stokes (captain), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Batchelor, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Will Jacques, Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, Matthew Potts and Shoaib Bashir.