England name their 12 for Sydney Test of Ashes 2025-26; Shoaib Bashir, Matthew Potts included

England and Australia will lock horns in the final Test of The Ashes 2025-26 from January 4 at Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney.

England Cricket Team have announced their final 12 for the fifth and final test of The Ashes 2025-26 against Australian Cricket Team. The encounter will commence on January 4 at Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney.

The Ben Stokes & Co. have already lost the five-match series. They faced back-to-back defeats in the first three games, however, made a wonderful comeback in the fourth test in Melbourne, crushing Australia by four wickets. In the low-scoring clash where both sides failed to cross the 200-run mark across both innings, England chased down a 175-run target to ouplay the hosts.

For the Sydney test, England have made only two changes to their side from the previous game. Spinner Shoaib Bashir and pacer Matthew Potts have been added to the team with pacer Gus Atkinson been ruled out of the next game due to a hamstring injury.

The right-arm seamer sustained the injury in the fourth test at Melbourne Cricket Ground, due to which he left the field on day 2 of the clash and did not return later. Notably, his ouster is the third blow to England’s pace unit in The Ashes 2025-26, as they earlier lost the services of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer.

Right-arm spinner Bashir did not get a chance to play in any of the previous four games, where pacers largely dominated. The 22-year-old last played in the test series against India in July 2025, where he was part of the playing XI in three games. Since making his debut in 2024, the off-spinner has featured in 19 tests so far, clinching 68 wickets in 33 innings.

27-year-old Potts has featured in only 10 tests so far, with his last appearance in the test series against New Zealand in December 2024. He warmed the bench in the first four games of The Ashes, but Atkinson’s ouster presented him with an opportunity for the final game. It remains to be seen if he gets a place in the Playing XI, which will be decided by the visitors ahead of the toss.

England playing 12 for the Sydney test

Ben Stokes (Captain), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (WK), Josh Tongue.

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