Rory Burns has been dropped by England after a brilliant start in the Ashes.
Opener Burns will be replaced by Jack Crowley for the Boxing Day Test and his Surrey teammate Ollie Pope will replace Jonny Bairstow.
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Burns was clean bowled on the first ball of The Ashes and his fortunes have hardly improved since then.
His scores of 0, 13, 4, 34 and his quirky technique have been ridiculed by many pundits.
He let David Warner go in the Brisbane First Test by squandering an easy chance.
England considered dropping Haseeb Hameed instead of Burns, 31.
But the tour management kept Hameed because he is seven years younger.
After scoring 267 runs against Pakistan in Southampton in 2020, Crowley averages just 11 in Test cricket this year.
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But he has made some technical changes to end his habit of catching catches.
And he looked most confident in England’s net sessions.
Pope scored 35 in the first innings of the series but has since recorded 4, 5 and 4.
His batting has also become increasingly frantic and agitated.
Bairstow’s performances in Test cricket have taken a toll in recent years but he scored a century on the last Ashes tour in 2017-18.
He is expected to be preferred at No. 6 over the less experienced Dan Lawrence.
Australia coach Justin Langer suggested Mitchell Starc play his third Ashes Test early, but Josh Hazlewood will again miss out on a minor side strain.
The 31-year-old Starc has bowled over 75 overs in the series and felt a twist in his back last time around.
Captain Pat Cummins should return to Melbourne and Victoria’s Scott Boland has been added.
