James Anderson not playing: England have made as many as five changes to their Playing XI for the fifth and final Test.
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During the first day of the ongoing fifth Ashes 2021-22 Test match between Australia and England in Hobart, England captain Joe Root has won the toss and chose to field.
“We’ll bowl. Overhead conditions, slightly tacky conditions. It was very important that we got something from the last game. The way we played on the last day was brilliant and we can take something out of it here,” Root told Fox Cricket at the toss.
Much like Root, Australia captain Pat Cummins also wanted to bowl first at the Bellerive Oval today. However, he remained unperturbed about being asked to bat first in a pink-ball match.
“We were probably going to have a bowl with the weather around, but not too upset because you want to bat first in pink ball Tests. We had a lot of fun, day five got really tight [in Sydney]. This ground has a lot of history and it’s pretty good to be part of it,” Cummins told Fox Cricket at the toss.
Why is James Anderson not playing Ashes 5th Test in Hobart?
Despite managing to not lose their first match of the series at the Sydney Cricket Ground, England have made as many as five changes to their Playing XI.
Opening batter Rory Burns, batter Ollie Pope, debutant wicket-keeper batter Sam Billings, all-rounder Chris Woakes and pacer Ollie Robinson have been included for opening batter Haseeb Hameed, batter Jonny Bairstow, wicket-keeper Jos Buttler, spinner Jack Leach and veteran pacer James Anderson.
While Hameed has been dropped after scoring 80 runs in eight innings at an average of 10, Bairstow and Buttler have missed this match due to respective injuries. Leach has had to make way for an extra pacer and Anderson has been rested is this dead-rubber. The development means that Anderson has all but played his last Test in Australia.
In three Tests on this tour, Anderson has picked eight wickets at an average and strike rate of 23.37 and 78 respectively. In 21 Tests in Australia across five Ashes series, Anderson’s 68 wickets have come at an average and strike rate of 34.01 and 72.7 respectively.
Billings, who has been around the English setup for many years now, has finally received a Test cap after playing 78 white-ball matches. In a first-class career spanning over a decade, Billings has scored 3,327 runs in 74 matches at an average of 34.29 including six centuries and 15 half-centuries.
Australia, on the other hand, have made a lone change by bringing in Travis Head for Marcus Harris. “Really tough for [Marcus] Harris to miss out. He has grown in the last two years but when someone like Ussie [Usman Khawaja] puts a performance like that, it’s tough to go past it,” Cummins added.
