England captain Ben Stokes shakes hands with teammate Shoaib Bashir. (AP photo) England announced a 12-man squad for the fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney on Friday, with renewed confidence flowing through the camp after their morale-breaking win at the MCG. The win, England’s first in Australia for 15 years, opened the door for the tourists to finish with a respectable 3-2 scoreline.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!The XII named for the Sydney Test includes Shoaib Bashir, who keeps England’s options open above their front man, while Matthew Potts comes in as cover after Gus Atkinson was ruled out injured. Bashir, long billed as England’s “No.1 spinner”, is competing with Will Jacks for a place in the XI, yet to feature in the first four Tests despite being a priority in this Ashes cycle.
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All-rounder Zak Crawley said the win at the MCG had instilled confidence in the group and vowed England would continue their aggressive batting philosophy regardless of Australia’s bowling combination. With Todd Murphy in contention for his first Test of the series, Crawley made it clear that England’s intent would not change.“No matter who’s playing, I think that’s the mantra of our team is to try to put pressure on people,” Crawley said. “Todd is a very good pitcher, but I imagine we’ll try to put some pressure on him like we do on all of their pitchers. There’s going to be some risk involved, and if that changes, it’s definitely going to be a threat.”
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Crawley added that ending the series 3-2 would be a significant statement for the side. “I think there’s a big difference just within the group,” he said. “It shows a lot about our group and how united we are if we can win.Attention was also focused on the SCG pitch after the two-day Test in Melbourne last week, but chief curator Adam Lewis played down concerns and insisted the surface was on track to last five days.England XII for Sydney Test:
- Ben Stokes, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue.
