Spinner Shoaib Bashir and seam-bowler Matthew Potts have been included in England’s 12-player squad for the fifth Ashes Test against Australia, with Gus Atkinson ruled out.
Atkinson, who is out due to a hamstring injury, is the only absentee from the team that won the fourth Test in Melbourne. No 3 batter Ollie Pope is again left out.
The tourists have already surrendered the urn but, having won a two-day shootout in Melbourne, are hoping to cut their losses by leaving with successive victories and a 3-2 scoreline.
Potts and Bashir have both been named in a 12-man squad for Sunday’s fifth Test at Sydney, with resources stretched by series-ending injuries to Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Atkinson.
Durham seamer Potts is favourite to add to his 10 caps, having last featured in December 2024, and comes with a solid Test record of 36 wickets at 29.44.
The 27-year-old could take the new ball at the SCG, having opened the bowling routinely at Durham, in a move that would allow Brydon Carse to return to a more familiar first-change role.
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Despite losing the series, Joe Root says England will look to build on their victory over Australia in the fourth Ashes Test as they prepare for the fifth and final game in Sydney
But England have retained the option of recalling Bashir if conditions look likely to offer generous turn.
The 22-year-old has spent the last 18 months as the team’s first-choice spinner but a combination of unhelpful surfaces, modest scores from the top seven and his own middling form in practice have seen him fall out of favour on this trip.
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On the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Stuart Broad refused to revise his pre-Ashes assessment that everything had fallen into place for an English success
Chief curator Adam Lewis was hopeful the SCG Test would extend into a fifth day.
“You want to see green tinge three days out,” Lewis said of the surface on Friday.
“If you’re not seeing any live grass three days out, then that’s when [it’s a worry]. I’m really comfortable with where we’re sitting.
“We had a little bit of sun this morning. They’re saying a bit more sun tomorrow. That will take the greenness out of the pitch. We’re really happy with the pitches at the moment.”
England 12-player squad for fifth Ashes Test
Ben Stokes (captain), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (WK), Josh Tongue.
