Stuart Broad gave England a dream start to the Fourth Test this morning when he took the wicket of David Warner with the fourth ball of the morning.
The Australia opener was caught behind while trying to leave the ball. Warner, who has been jeered by England fans all summer after his role in ‘sandpapergate’, has been dismissed by Broad five times in seven innings this series and this was his second duck in a row.
Australia opted to unleash fast bowler Mitchell Starc for the first time this series as Tim Paine won the toss and chose to bat first. Starc was overlooked for the first three Tests as Australia rotated their battery of quicks, opting for greater control.
But with the series locked at 1-1 after Ben Stokes’s extraordinary Headingley heist, Australia turned to Starc in place of James Pattinson, whose workload needs to be managed after a series of injuries.
That reunited the attack of Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins that was successful in the 2017/18 series. Peter Siddle was the bowler left out of their 12-man squad.
For England, Somerset’s Craig Overton came in for Chris Woakes. Joe Denly will open the batting, with Jason Roy dropping to No4.
As Australia hold the Ashes, England cannot afford to lose another Test in this series, which comes to an end at the Kia Oval.
