The offspinner Todd Murphy and fast bowler Jhye Richardson have been included in the Australia squad for the fourth test of The Ashes 2025-26 in Melbourne.
They have replaced Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon with Steven Smith to return as captain. Cummins has to recover from an inner-ear issue that sidelined him in Adelaide.
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia have confirmed that Nathan Lyon needs surgery after having torn his right hamstring during the third test in Adelaide and has been sidelined from the Australia squad.
The injury occurred when he made an attempt to save a boundary on day 05 with a dive. Hence, Toddy Murphy is now in line to make his test return at home after last playing the format in Sri Lanka in February this year.
Pat Cummins has spoken in the press conference after leading the team to a series win in Adelaide, to manage his post-recovery workload better. It remains to be seen if he will return for the New Year’s test in Sydney.
Speaking on Cummins, Andrew McDonald said, “He won’t play any part in the rest of the series.”
“That was a discussion that we had a long time ago about his return. Yeah, we were taking on some risk. We’ve now won the series, and that was the goal.”
“To position him for further risk and jeopardise him long-term is not something that we want to do.
“Pat’s really comfortable with that. If he had had any setback in the build-in as well, we would have shut him down straight away.
“Everything went really smoothly, and full credit to him, the medical team, and to navigate through that risk profile, to get him back and take six wickets in that game and nail the Ashes series was incredibly pleasing for everyone associated with that.”
Richardson is likely to return to test after four years, having his last test appearance in the Ashes 2021. He underwent his third shoulder surgery earlier this year and has been training with the team through the first three tests, gradually increasing his bowling loads
Richardson showed his match readiness by bowling 26 overs and picking a five-wicket haul against England Lions.
Australia has secured the series 3-0 in the ongoing test series and will be aiming to continue dominance in the WTC 2025-27 points table.
Meanwhile, England will be aiming to bounce back with a win in the fourth test. The fourth test will be played between December 26 and 30 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne.
Australia Squad: Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
