Ashes 2023: Josh Hazlewood Replaces Scott Boland In Australia XI For 4th Test

The Australian cricket team on Tuesday announced the return of Josh Hazlewood in their playing XI for the fourth Test against England. Pacer Scott Boland will make way for Hazlewood in the team.

Australia captain Pat Cummins confirmed the development and also revealed that the team's top-five will remain unchanged for the fourth Test in Manchester starting July 19.

Hazlewood played the first two Tests against England at Edgbaston and Lord's, picking 3 and 5 wickets respectively.

The Aussies lead the five-match series 2-1 and will secure The Ashes if they win at Old Trafford this week.

Cummins also defended the selection of David Warner in the first-three Tests despite the opener not scoring runs consistently in the series. But Warner will be retained for the penultimate match.

"I think [Warner] has been going really well. I thought at Lord's, he was really impressive. Last week, like many of us, he probably didn't contribute as much as he would have liked with the bat.

"He's been out there over the last couple of days putting in a lot of work, but I think this tour he has shown a lot of good signs and hasn't quite kicked on to make that big score.

"Some of those innings he's played under really tough circumstances has made it easy for [Steven] Smith to come in and score runs, or the like," Cummins said.