The fourth Test of the ongoing five-match Ashes Test series between Australia and England kicks off on January 5 at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney. The Aussies have already retained the urn and will look forward to adding more misery to a hapless Three Lions side in the New Year’s Test. England have been outplayed in all three Tests so far. The hosts have been sensational and Root’s men haven’t really stood a chance. The Aussies were particularly brutal in the third Test, defeating the Poms by an innings and 14 runs. After electing to bowl first, the Aussie bowlers wreaked havoc in the English camp as they knocked over England for just 185. Marcus Harris, who was out of form, played a well-composed innings of 76 in Australia’s first innings. But the English bowlers came back hard to clean up the hosts on 267. Jimmy Anderson starred with the ball, picking up four wickets. With a handy lead of 82, the hosts already had their noses ahead and their pacers came out firing. The bowling attack was led by debutant Scott Boland as he picked up six wickets in his four overs on debut. Boland’s incredible display helped his side clean England up for a paltry 68 in 27.4 overs. It was a sensational performance from the hosts as they wrapped up the series with two games to go. The Englishmen need to be at their absolute best or else a 5-0 whitewash is certain. Australia will take on England in the 4th Test of the series. Australia have retained the Ashes urn after winning the Melbourne Test inside 3 days, thanks to a magnificent bowling performance from the debutant Scott Boland, who took 7 wickets. The hosts aren’t looking to settle for this as they are aiming to whitewash the visitors 5-0. Travis Head has tested positive for COVID-19 and Usman Khawaja will replace him in the eleven. England have struggled as a team completely in this series. They didn’t show any kind of fight in the third Test of the series and lost the match by an innings and 14 runs. Still opening combinations is a huge headache for the team management. There is nothing to lose as they already lost the series 0-3. They will be playing for pride and need to play an excellent brand of cricket if they want to beat the Aussies. AUSTRALIA VS ENGLAND MATCH DETAILS: Match: Australia vs England, 4th Test, Ashes 2021-22. Date and Time: January 5th 2022, Wednesday, 05:00 AM IST. Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney. AUSTRALIA VS ENGLAND PITCH REPORT The pitch at Sydney Cricket Ground is a balanced track. The pacers will continue to play a major role as they will get some seam movement off the deck. The batters need to be patient and once they are well-settled, they can play their strokes freely. AUSTRALIA VS ENGLAND WEATHER FORECAST Temperatures in Sydney on the opening day of the Test match are expected to hover between 21 and 26 degrees Celsius. However, there is a high chance of rain predicted over the next five days. Let’s hope the rain stays away and we get a full game. AUSTRALIA VS ENGLAND PROBABLE XIS AUSTRALIA The bowlers have been brilliant so far as the English batters haven’t been able to counter them. Marcus Harris is back in form and it will be a relief for his side to see him get some runs under his belt. Travis Head will miss the SCG Test and we might see Usman Khawaja replace him in the XI. PROBABLE XI:

• David Warner
• Marcus Harris
• Marnus Labuschagne
• Steve Smith
• Usman Khawaja
• Cameron Green
• Alex Carey (wk)
• Pat Cummins (c)
• Mitchell Starc
• Scott Boland
• Nathan Lyon.

ENGLAND The Englishmen are struggling down under. They have already lost the series and will be looking to get a win under their belt. The bowlers did a fine job in the third Test but their batters disappointed. They need to fire in unison to challenge the upbeat Aussies. PROBABLE XI:

• Zak Crawley
• Haseeb Hameed
• Dawid Malan
• Joe Root (c)
• Ben Stokes
• Jonny Bairstow
• Jos Buttler (wk)
• Stuart Broad
• Mark Wood
• Jack Leach
• James Anderson.

TOP PICKS ­– BATTERS David Warner looks a completely different player when he scores runs. He has shown a lot of intent throughout this Test series and will be disappointed by missing out on the century on both occasions. In 4 innings, he has scored 240 runs at an average of 60. Dawid Malan didn’t do well in the last Test match. He has scored over 200 runs in this series, which includes 2 half-centuries. TOP PICKS ­– ALL-ROUNDERS Joe Root is the leading run-scorer of his team in this series. The England skipper has notched up 253 runs in 6 innings at an average of 42.16 with the highest score of 89 and he also picked up 4 wickets. Cameron Green will be a good budget pick from the all-rounders’ category at 8 credits. In 3 matches in this series, he has scalped 7 wickets and has also scored 52 runs with the bat. TOP PICKS ­– BOWLERS Pat Cummins is having a great summer, as won the Ashes in his first assignment as a captain. In 2 Test matches in this series, he has scalped 10 wickets with the best figures of 5 for 38 in an innings and has also scored 33 runs with the bat. Mark Wood can extract more pace even on the slower surfaces. He can be a breakthrough provider for England in this match. He has scalped 5 wickets so far in this series. TOP PICKS ­– WICKET KEEPERS Alex Carey has managed to score 97 runs in this series at an average of 19.4. He has shown a lot of composure and kept really in all Test matches. AUSTRALIA VS ENGLAND MATCH PREDICTION With the urn already retained, the Aussies will look to carry their winning momentum forward and extend their lead in the series. Meanwhile, Root’s men need to be at their absolute best and play out of their skin in the remaining two games to get something out of the series. Australia have been fantastic in the series so far and the English side are really struggling to compete down under. Expect the Aussies to come out on top in the SCG Test. Prediction: Australia to win this encounter.