Smith confirms four-pacer combination for Boxing Day Test

Australia, under Steve Smith, went into the second Ashes Test in Brisbane without a frontline spinner. Three weeks on, Australia will repeat that strategy for the Boxing Day Test, once again under the captaincy of Smith. Nathan Lyon has been ruled out with injury while his replacement Todd Murphy misses the cut as the hosts have opted to go with four pacers instead. "We landed on a 12. I want to just take a look at the wicket tomorrow. We're going to be playing four quicks, no spinner," Smith said on Christmas Day.

Australia took this route after get a glimpse of the green-top surface a day out from the Test. "10 mils of grass, quite furry, quite green," Smith said of the pitch, a day out from the festive fixture.

The conditions too are expected to be much cooler with temperatures forecast to hit a maximum of 26 degrees in the first three days. "So, I dare say it's going to offer quite a bit. Particularly, I think tomorrow [will be] similar conditions [to] today, quite cold and overcast. So, yeah, I dare say there's going to be quite a bit of movement in that surface.

The pitch and the conditions played a major role in Murphy missing out and Smith said that it wasn't down to skill. "I think a lot of the wickets we're playing on at present are certainly more seam-friendly than spin-friendly. Last week was an anomaly [in Adelaide]. We saw some rough and we saw Nathan come in to play big time last week.

"You've just got to play what surface you're presented with and this one out here looks like it's going to offer a fair bit of assistance for the seam bowlers and the weather throughout the week looks conducive for that too. I think if Nathan was here, we'd probably still be having the same conversation as well. So it's certainly nothing to do with Todd's skill."

Jhye Richardson, meanwhile, is in the mix after being added to the squad for this fourth Test. He last featured in a Test in Ashes 2021 in Adelaide, where he picked up a five-fer in the second innings. Talking of the 29-year-old, Smith was excited to have Richardson back in the mix of the side. "He's had a pretty long layoff with injury and we know the skills that he can possess. He's done it against England before in the Ashes and great to see him back on the table."

"He's just got a great set of skills. Swings the ball both ways, seams it, accurate. A bit more skiddy than some of the others. He's a little bit shorter, bowls decent pace. So, we've seen when he's had the opportunity at this level, he's been outstanding."

The Australian captain also backed Cameron Green to come good who has scored only 76 runs in four innings and picked up two wickets so far across 37 overs bowled. "He's bowling nicely. Obviously, he picked up a key wicket in the last game with Harry Brook with a nice ball," Smith said. "I think in terms of his batting, he probably hasn't got the output that he's wanted so far but, he's had a couple of really good starts where he's looked nice and comfortable at the crease and, it's about just making those starts and turning them into bigger scores and, we've seen how talented he is."

"See what he can do in the game with bat, ball and in the field. He saves truckload of runs at gully there with balls that no one else is going to stop. So, hopefully he can have a really good week this week," Smith added.

Having missed out on the last Test in Adelaide due to a vestibular issue, Smith mentioned that he was 100% ready to go again and was far better than last week. "I'm good, thanks. Obviously, I had a few bad days before the Test [Adelaide Oval Test] and first couple of days of the Test and all my vestibular stuff settled down. So, yeah, feeling 100%. It was a shame to miss that one [third Test]. It looked like a pretty nice wicket for batting. I was watching in the hotel those first two days and wished I could have been out there, but it was the right call at that stage."