Khawaja dropped for fourth Ashes Test in Manchester

Australia have named a 12-man squad for the fourth Ashes Test in Manchester. Out of form No.3 batsman, Usman Khawaja has been dropped from the side with Steve Smith’s imminent return. With Khawaja dropped, Marnus Labuschagne is likely to get a promotion up the order.

Khawaja has been in poor form so far in the Ashes. He has gotten off to various starts, but has failed to convert any of them. His scores so far in the series read – 13, 40, 36, 2, 8 and 23 at an average of 20.33. Labuschagne, on the other hand, has been hugely impressive as Smith’s replacement in the side.

Starc, Siddle to battle it out

Mitchell Starc, yet to play a Test match in the series has also been included in the squad. He will likely fight it out against Peter Siddle for the slot of the third seamer. James Pattinson has also been rested with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood being the other two seamers. The conditions at Old Trafford in Manchester will ultimately decide which of the three pacers play in the lineup.

The Australians have also resisted the urge to include all-rounder Mitchell Marsh in the squad. He was the man-of-the-match in Australia’s tour game against Derby. But the team management has decided to persist with the six proper batsmen in the team composition.

Coach Justin Langer said on Marsh’s exclusion:

“The tough thing for Mitch and a few of them, is you have to bang so hard to get into the side like Matthew Wade, Marcus Harris did for example. He’s craving some continuity of playing so he can get some performance on the board, I reckon. Obviously, he’s played about thirty-odd Test matches, or about that, because we see the value of having a guy who can bat, hopefully, score hundreds in the top six and bowl pretty well.”

The fourth Test of the Ashes will begin at Old Trafford in Manchester on September 4. The series is finely balanced at 1-1 after Ben Stokes’ heroics in the third Test.

Australia squad: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Tim Paine (c, wk), Pat Cummins, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.