Despite David Warner’s continuous troubles against England paceman Stuart Broad, the Australian team decided to keep him in their XI for the fourth Ashes test at Old Trafford. The match will take place in England.
However, Australia is contemplating going into a Test match without a first-choice slow bowler for the first time in 11 years, which means that spinner Todd Murphy might be left out of the team when play begins on Wednesday.
Warner will continue to open the batting with Usman Khawaja, as stated by Australia’s skipper Pat Cummins on Tuesday. Cummins is attempting to lead his team to a victory in the Ashes series in England for the first time since 2001. Australia currently leads the series 2-1 with two games remaining.
Warner was bowled out twice by Broad, resulting in a total of only five runs scored by him during England’s victory by three wickets in the third Test match played at Headingley.
Broad has now taken the wicket of the left-handed batsman 17 times in Tests. If he does another double over Warner in Manchester, he will have a chance to tie the record for most dismissals by a bowler against a single batsman at this level, which is currently held by the great Australian bowler Glenn McGrath, who took the wicket of the former England captain Mike Atherton 19 times.
But Cummins said that Warner’s contribution to three partnerships of over 50 runs had assisted the Ashes-holders Australia in establishing their lead in the series. Cummins also expressed confidence that Warner, who is 36 years old and has a poor batting average of 23.5 after six innings, would return to form this week.
“Come on, Davey!”
“Davey didn’t have his best game last week at Headingley, but prior to that, I think he’s looked really good,” Cummins said during a press conference held at Old Trafford on Tuesday. “He’s had three fifty-run partnerships which can be rare over here in England,” Cummins said. “Davey didn’t have his best game last week at Headingley.”
The quick bowler continued, saying, “We support Davey 100 percent.” We are aware of how difficult it may be to open around these parts. He is making all the correct moves, he has shown some encouraging signals, and I have no doubt that he will soon have a significant victory.
Cummins also stated that fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood will be replacing Scott Boland, who has only taken two wickets in two tests while averaging a very costly 115.5 runs per game.
In the meanwhile, fit-again all-rounder Cameron Green might replace Murphy after the inexperienced spinner only bowled 9.3 overs at Headingley. This came after Nathan Lyon suffered a tour-ending calf injury in the second Test match at Lord’s, which forced him to retire from the tour.
“Nathan Lyon is the greatest off-spinner we’ve ever had, so it’s not quite apples for apples (in comparing him to Murphy),” Cummins said. “Nathan Lyon is the greatest off-spinner we’ve ever had.”
“We are quite enthusiastic about Todd, and we believe that he is an outstanding individual. He has a bright future ahead of him. It wasn’t so much his bowling as it was the circumstances or the way I employed him that made the difference.
In order to retain the Ashes, Australia needs merely a tie in the match in Manchester. Cummins is keen to lead Australia to an overall Ashes campaign triumph this season and thus crown a trip that has already seen his team overcome India in the final of the World Test Championship at The Oval. He participated in the shared 2019 series that was held in England, so he is familiar with the conditions there.
Later in this week, precipitation is expected to fall in Manchester. Test matches at Old Trafford are notorious for being postponed or canceled due to inclement weather.
According to Cummins, “The first preference is always to try to win,” and he reiterated this again. “We were dealt the 2019 series, and every single one of us has made it abundantly clear that we want to win this one.”