Melbourne Test hero Scott Boland held his place as Australia made only one change to their winning side for the fourth Ashes Test against England in Sydney which begins today. Batsman Usman Khawaja was confirmed in the team announced yesterday as a replacement for Covid victim Travis Head. Khawaja last played for Australia in the Headingley Test of the 2019 Ashes series.
England recalled veteran bowler Stuart Broad to partner Jimmy Anderson, the only change to the side that meekly surrendered the Ashes last week. The seamer comes in for Ollie Robinson, who has been rested for a clash in which the tourists are playing for pride after three heavy defeats in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne. 
Paceman Boland, who was man-of-the-match on Test debut with his 6-7 in Australia’s crushing innings win to clinch the series in Melbourne, kept his place with Josh Hazlewood again unavailable with a side strain. 
“Scotty gets a go. Josh Hazlewood had a few bowls and Jhye Richardson a bit similar, but they were not quite up to 100%,” Cummins told reporters at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
“We gave Josh every chance we could, but he felt he couldn’t bowl at full tilt yesterday so we’re still hoping he will be right for the final Test in Hobart. You are not going to blast them out on this wicket,” he added. 
“There’s a little bit of grass on it, but traditionally it’s hard work, it goes the full five days and you need that disciplined stump-to-stump bowler, that’s what Scotty brings. There’s no secret that if Josh Hazlewood was fit he would play, but it’s a real luxury to have someone like Scotty. It would have been a shame to see him not play this week after his efforts in Melbourne last week.”
Hazlewood hasn’t played since the opening Test in Brisbane while Richardson, who featured as his replacement in the second Test in Adelaide, taking five wickets in the second innings, has also been held back through injury. Khawaja initially lost out to Head for the vacant number five batting position at the start of the series and has been part of Australia’s Test squad throughout as a spare batsman.  
England are facing the possibility of a 5-0 series whitewash, although rain forecast for Sydney could come to their rescue. The Australian and England teams continue to be tested daily for Covid-19 in the wake of Head being ruled out with the virus along with many of England’s support staff. No further cases among the playing group have emerged.
Meanwhile,  Robinson is the only England bowler to have played in all three previous Tests and pulled up with a shoulder niggle after their crushing innings-and-14-run defeat in the third Test in Melbourne. Chris Woakes is also dealing with a shoulder problem, ruling him out of a potential return.
It opened the door for Broad, who will play alongside Anderson for only the second time this series after Adelaide, bolstering an attack also featuring Mark Wood and spinner Jack Leach.
“We felt like it was too much of a risk to go in with a couple of lads who are carrying niggles,” said batting coach Graham Thorpe, who is acting coach for the fourth Test with Chris Silverwood isolating after a family member caught Covid. “So therefore, it was right to bring Stuart back in.”
Ben Stokes will add support to the attack and Thorpe said he hoped the star all-rounder would finally make his mark after a disappointing tour so far. There was no change to the batting line-up that was skittled for just 68 in their second innings last week, with openers Haseeb Hameed and Zak Crawley both surviving. 
With Rory Burns and Ollie Pope already dropped from the side following the second Test in Adelaide, Dan Lawrence was the only other frontline option yet to play in this series.