Australia XI for Boxing Day named

Australia have named an unchanged Test XI for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, with selectors sticking to the side that held off Pakistan by 39 runs in Brisbane.

It means NSW batsman Nic Maddinson will be given another opportunity to prove himself at No.6 in the second Commonwealth Bank Test after scoring 0, 1 and 4 in his three innings since his debut in Adelaide, while young allrounder Hilton Cartwright misses out on a dream Boxing Day debut.

South Australian paceman Chadd Sayers also misses out on a maiden Baggy Green, with Australia sticking with the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird, with Nathan Lyon rounding out the attack.

"We brought the allrounder into the squad because the bowlers had a pretty heavy workload but they've pulled up well and they're confident they can get through," Smith said on Sunday.

"Obviously (Nic) hasn't started the way he would have liked. I was really proud of him in the second innings in Brisbane to come out and do the thing for the team and try and score quick runs and have a crack.

"That's what we want from our team, to have unselfish players like that and I thought he did a good job to come out and do that."

It means Australia will again field six specialist batsmen, selectors sticking to the formula they adopted after Mitch Marsh was dropped from the Test side in November and replaced by specialist batsmen Callum Ferguson (Hobart), and Maddinson (Adelaide and Brisbane) in the No.6 position.

Highly-rated 24-year-old Cartwright was added to the Test squad for Melbourne following Australia’s first Test win at the Gabba, as the hosts monitored the fitness of their bowling attack in the wake of an increased workload in Brisbane.

The Zimbabwean-born 24-year last month also earnt a call-up to Australia’s 50-over side for Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series against New Zealand but wasn’t selected for his international debut.

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Speaking at the MCG on Friday, paceman Bird said while fielding an allrounder in the side would lighten the workload on the main bowlers, he was confident that the four-man attack that has steered Australia to back-to-back victories could complete the series win in Melbourne.

"It probably would take a bit of the workload off us if we did have Hilton as a fifth bowling option, but I think us three quicks and Nathan Lyon have been doing a good job," Bird said.

"We've won the last two Test matches and I'm not sure why they'd change that."

Meanwhile, Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq says he will wait until tomorrow’s coin toss at the MCG to reveal whether any changes will be made to the XI which will look to continue the momentum gained by their narrow 39-run defeat at the Gabba.

Australia XI: David Warner, Matthew Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Peter Handscomb, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird, Nathan Lyon

Pakistan squad: Pakistan XI: Sami Aslam, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Younis Khan, Misbah-Ul-Haq (c), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Rahat Ali

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