Australia will face England in the 4th Test of the Ashes 2021-22 series at the Sydney Cricket Ground(SCG), Sydney. Aussies have already clinched the series with a 3-0 lead in the 5 match Test series and now will be looking to clean sweep the series. Australia has cleaned up England 5-0 in the Ashes only three times in history (1920/21, 2006/07, and 2013/14). They last won four matches in the Ashes in the 2017/18 series (won 4-0).
The Aussies will be high on confidence with three back-to-back wins against England. Warner, Labuschagne, and Smith provided the Australian batting line-up with a solid spine. While Australian bowling attack has been relentless in their excellence so far during the Ashes. Usman Khawaja is likely to replace Travis Head, who misses out after testing positive for COVID-19. Australia is currently at the top of the ICC World Test Championship table with three wins in a row.
There is nothing to lose for England as they have already lost the series. England will be now looking to save their heads from a clean sweep defeat against the Aussies. Batting has been a big issue for England in this series. No batter other than Joe Root has performed and scored consistently in the series. Ben Stokes will be hoping to get his series underway in earnest. England bowling all-rounder Ollie Robinson has been ruled out from the Sydney test due to a shoulder niggle and veteran pacer Stuart Broad replaces him in the squad.
Australia vs England: Match Details
Date – 05-09 January 2022
Time – 5:00 AM IST
Venue – Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Live Streaming – Sony Network
Pitch Report
Sydney is known to be a good batting wicket, and the batters will find it easy to bat on the surface. There is not much help for the fast bowlers as it doesn’t offer the true bounce like the other Australian wickets. However, the spinners come into the picture on days 4 and 5 of a Test match. The average 1st innings score at this venue in the last 5 matches is 272 runs. The team batting first at this venue has won 40% of its matches.
Australia vs England Head-to-Head
Total – 354
Australia – 149
England – 110
Draw – 95
Australia vs England Playing XI:
Both teams have announced their playing XI.
Australia – David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon
England – Haseeb Hameed, Zak Crawley, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Mark Wood, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson
Dream 11 Team Suggestion:
Wicket-keepers – Jos Buttler
Batters – Steven Smith, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Dawid Malan/J Bairstow
All-rounders – Joe Root, Cameron Green
Bowlers – Mark Wood, James Anderson, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc