England announce lineup for final Ashes Test. (Image source: Twitter)
England Cricket on Monday named an unchanged squad for the final Test of the Ashes 2023 series beginning July 27 at The Oval.
England hope to level the series 2-2. England were in pole position in the fourth Test to level the series and reignite their hopes of securing the Ashes after 2015 but almost two days of the Manchester Test were washed out due to rain and the match ended in a draw.
Australia in their second innings had scored 214/5 and were still 61 runs behind England’s first-innings score but five sessions were lost due to rain. Cameron Green (3*) and Mitchell Marsh (31*) were on the crease.
Labuschagne was the lead scorer for Australia in the second innings and his 111 comprised 10 fours and two sixes. While the fourth day saw action in the second session, no play could take place on Day five.
If Australia win the series, it will be the first time since 2001 that they will beat the hosts on their home soil. England skipper Ben Stokes has already made it clear that the fifth Test will be a massive game for them.
England are likely to declare the playing XI closer to the match taking into account various factors including work load of players.
England squad for the fifth Test: Ben Stokes (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.