Boxing Day test
\nUsman Khawaja has been included in squad at expense of Josh Inglis
\n Brisbane
\nSteve Smith returns to action in the Boxing Day test against England as Australia opted to include four fast bowlers in their 12-man squad, with spinner Todd Murphy, who was brought into the fold to replace Nathan Lyon, not finding a spot.
\nFast bowler Jhye Richardson, who has not played in the longest format since 2021, has been brought back after fine domestic form on his return from shoulder surgery.
\nBrendan Doggett who played in the first two tests, and Michael Neser, who was part of the pink-ball encounter, have also been included with Australia going for an all-pace attack.
\n\u201cYou just got to play what surface you\u2019re presented with,\u201d Smith, who missed the Adelaide test due to a bout of vertigo, told reporters on Thursday.
\n\u201cThe pitch has 10mm of grass, quite furry, quite green.\u201d
\n\u201cI dare say it\u2019s going to offer similar conditions to today, quite cold and overcast. So, there\u2019s going to be quite a bit of movement.
\n\u201cThis one looks like it\u2019s going to offer a fair bit of assistance for the seam bowlers and the weather throughout the week looks conducive for that too.\u201d
\nThe 29-year-old left-arm pacer Richardson\u2019s last appearance in the red-ball format was against England in December 2021 in which he picked five wickets to guide his side to a 275-run win.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to see Richardson back into the fold,\u201d Smith said.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s had a pretty long layoff with injury, and we know the skills he can possess\u201d
\n\u201cHe\u2019s done it against England before in an Ashes. We\u2019ve seen when he\u2019s had the opportunity at this level, he\u2019s been outstanding.\u201d
\nMeanwhile, veteran Usman Khawaja, who scored 82 and 40 in the previous test after coming in as a last-minute replacement for Smith, has been included at the expense of Josh Inglis.
\n\u201c(It was) fortunate that Usman was able to come in and play the way he did in that first innings.
\n\u201cWe all thought he played really nicely last week, he\u2019s putting the pressure on when he needed to, and he absorbed it when he needed to.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s got that No 5 spot right now.
\n\u201cCam (Cameron Green) with the way his whole package is set up helps us out at seven as well.\u201d
\nAustralia have already retained the urn with a 3-0 lead in the five-test series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Boxing Day test Usman Khawaja has been included in squad at expense of Josh Inglis Brisbane Steve Smith returns to action in the Boxing Day test against England as Australia opted to include four fast bowlers in their 12-man squad, with spinner Todd Murphy, who was brought into the fold to replace Nathan Lyon, not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522170,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-522157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n