As Australia lick their wounds following their failure to seal the Ashes at Headingley, they have some major selection decisions to make ahead of next week’s fourth Test in Manchester.
Seeking a first series win in England since 2001, Pat Cummins’ team were so close to creating history in Leeds before Harry Brook, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood combined with the bat to seal a thrilling three-wicket win for the hosts that keeps the Ashes alive heading into the final two Tests.
Chief among Australia’s concerns will be David Warner’s spot at the top of the order, how they get Mitchell Marsh and the returning Cameron Green into the same XI, and the make-up of a bowling attack that has been over reliant on Cummins and Mitchell Starc.
Warner’s position is again under the microscope given his struggles against Stuart Broad have continued in this series, with the England seamer following up a 2019 Ashes when he got the opener out seven times by dismissing him three times so far this summer, including twice at Headingley.
Overall Broad has now claimed Warner’s scalp 17 times in Tests, just two behind the all-time record for the most dismissals by a single bowler to one batter held by Glenn McGrath (and Michael Atherton).
In the immediate aftermath of the third Test, Cummins was non-committal about Warner’s prospects of playing in the final two Tests. The feeling is the tourists are likely to keep faith with the 36-year-old while the series is still alive but dropping Warner could solve another issue – namely getting two all-rounders in Marsh and Green in the same team next week.
Marsh’s superb first-innings 118, not to mention his two wickets, got his team so close to victory in Leeds. It was some performance given he was only playing his first Test in almost four years because Green had a hamstring twinge.
The 31-year-old will play at Old Trafford next week and with Green fit again, Australia will look to squeeze both into their XI. One way of doing so would be to drop Warner and ask one of the all-rounders to open, most likely Green. If Warner remains they would have to drop a seamer to get both Green and Marsh in.
With Scott Boland averaging 115 in this series, he obviously makes way but then that means either not picking Josh Hazlewood, rested for Headingley, or Mitchell Starc, Australia’s best bowler by a country mile in the third Test.
With stand-in spinner Todd Murphy likely to continue it leaves Australia with a major dilemma.
Cummins and Starc really do need some help from a frontline seamer in Hazlewood come Manchester given they sent down 63 of the 102 overs Australia bowled in the third Test and took 14 of the 17 England wickets to fall. Losing spinner Nathan Lyon to injury was a huge blow and you’d think Australia have no option but to pick Hazlewood – eight wickets at 32 so far in this series. That may be bad news for Warner, but whatever call they make, Australia are now under real pressure.
