England announce playing XII for Sydney Test: Shoaib Bashir, Matthew Potts included for fifth Ashes Test

England spinner Shoaib Bashir in action. (FILE PHOTO: PTI)

The England Cricket Board have announced their playing XII for the fifth Test of the Ashes 2025-26 series against Australia, set to be played at Sydney Cricket Ground.

England have included spinner Shoaib Bashir and fast bowler Matthew Potts for the Sydney Test. From the side that defeated Australia in the fourth Test in Melbourne, pacer Gus Atkinson is the only player missing, having been ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Atkinson is the third England fast bowler who has been ruled out of the Ashes midway through the series. Mark Wood and Jofra Archer were also ruled out earlier owing to injuries.

England pacers, led by Josh Tongue, helped the visitors pull back one game after a humiliating Ashes series loss in just 11 days of cricket that saw Australia dominate the Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide Tests to go 3-0 up in the five-match series.

SCG is expected to have conditions suited for spinners as well, which prompted England to include Bashir in the 12-man playing squad, who hasn’t played a single Test in this series.

Earlier on Thursday, Australian off-spinner Todd Murphy said that he is hopeful of spinners having a role in the Sydney Test. Spin hasn’t played much of a role in the ongoing series, with pacers dominating the proceedings right from the Perth Test.

Speaking about the conditions at SCG, he said: “I think it definitely can spin. We’ve played on some BBL wickets here where it has taken spin. I’ve only played a couple of Shield games and don’t think it’s ever done anything extraordinary out there. I don’t think recently it’s been massive spin but there’s still been a big part of the game that spin played.”

The Sydney Test will start from January 4.

Ben Stokes (Captain), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (WK), Josh Tongue.