McGrath passed fit to play as England ponder team selection (25 December 1998)

25 December 1998

McGrath passed fit to play as England ponder team selection

AFP

MELBOURNE, Australia, Dec 25 (AFP) - New ball spearhead Glenn McGrath passed a fitness test Friday as Australia considered pitching rookie Matthew Nicholson into a three-man pace attack against England in the fourth cricket Test starting Saturday.

McGrath, who has the most wickets in the series with 16, has been troubled by a virus but indicated Friday at the team's Christmas Day lunch that he would be fit.

Australia, who secured the Ashes for a sixth consecutive series with a 205-run victory in the last Test in Adelaide, are looking at a likely three-man pace attack on a greenish pitch.

Nicholson, called in this week after Jason Gillespie withdrew with a knee injury, has played just seven first-class games for Western Australia.

If he does make his Test debut then seamer-cum-offspinner Colin Miller could be the 12th man. The match is expected to draw a 70,000 Boxing Day crowd in sports-mad Melbourne.

The tourists Friday delayed naming their side until match morning, confused at the state of the Melbourne Cricket Ground wicket.

Australian skipper Mark Taylor wants to snuff out any England fightback in their attempt to level the best-of-five series.

"The next two weeks for them is a chance to retain some pride and give us a bit of a run for our money and try and shock us into a Test loss," Taylor said Friday.

"We have got to make sure we are on our guard against that. They haven't been playing well so they have got nothing to lose."

England spent Christmas morning working out at the MCG, trying to iron out the problems that have beset them on tour for the last two months.

With a 2-0 lead in the series after a drawn first Test, the holders Australia keep the Ashes. But England can still salvage some pride after a dismal tour so far and draw the series with wins in Melbourne and Sydney over the next fortnight.

That appears improbable given Australia's dominance in the opening three games.

Only a fierce electrical storm stopped them winning the first Brisbane Test and Taylor's team crushed England by seven wickets inside three days of the second Perth Test.

England endured the embarrassment of losing their final leadup game by nine wickets against the Australian XI in Hobart last Tuesday. Greg Blewett (213) and Corey Richards (138) blazed away in an unbroken 345-run stand in 206 minutes for victory with more than 22 overs to spare.

Taylor starts the Boxing Day Test two catches behind the world record set by his predecessor Allan Border of 156 Test catches.

Border established his record in 156 matches while the Boxing Day Test will be Taylor's 103rd Test.

"It's probably one of the few stats that I keep on myself," said Taylor, an expert first slip.

"It's one thing I do keep a bit of a record of, that and how many Tests I have captained - which is 48."

Taylor said he was proud of his reputation as the game's premier slip fielder after honing his skills with former Australian coach Bob Simpson from the age of 21.

"Its something I always felt I had to work on quite hard because you spend a lot of time in the field," he said.

Australia - Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Michael Slater, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Darren Lehmann, Ian Healy, Damien Fleming, Matthew Nicholson, Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath, Colin Miller (12th man to be named).

England - to be named on match morning.

Source :: AFP