Teams
Australia:David Warner,Usman Khawaja,Marnus Labuschagne,Steve Smith,Travis Head,Mitchell Marsh,Cameron Green,Alex Carey,Mitchell Starc,Pat Cummins (c),Josh Hazlewood.
England:Zak Crawley,Ben Duckett,Moeen Ali,Joe Root,Harry Brooks,Ben Stokes (c) Jonny Bairstow,Chris Woakes,Mark Wood,Stuart Broad,Jimmy Anderson.
Pitch:Pat Cummins described it as “really good” despite a lot of recent rain,which is typical of Manchester’s climate. Former England and Lancashire captain Mike Atherton believes the Old Trafford pitch is one of the best in the country because of its consistent bounce and carry,which suggests a good contest between bat and ball.
Weather:The Australians remember the Old Trafford Test of four years ago as the coldest they’ve played. There may be a heatwave in parts of Europe,but Manchester will be cloudy with a temperature in the high teens and a chance of showers over the weekend. Sounds like good bowling conditions.
Key players
Australia:The soft dismissals of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to Moeen Ali during Australia’s second innings at Headingley left Australia short of runs and opened the door for an England victory that kept the series alive. Smith made 211 and 82 in Australia’s 185-run victory at Old Trafford four years ago. Just half that many runs would put Australia on course for their first series victory in England for 22 years.
England:Like Jofra Archer’s pace changed the series in 2019,the arrival of Mark Wood in this series after missing the first two Tests recovering from injury shapes as a game changer. Wood uprooted the middle stump of Australia’s most prolific batsman in this series,Usman Khawaja,then swept away the tail,claiming a player of the match 5-34. A similar performance at Old Trafford could leave this series 2-2 with one to play.