Australia elect to bat under cloudy Sydney skies

Session times: 11am - 1pm | 1.40pm - 4.10pm | 4.30pm - 6.30pm (all times AEDT)

Australia captain Pat Cummins has won the toss and elected to bat first in the fourth Vodafone Ashes Test at the SCG.

Both teams confirmed their XIs yesterday, with each making one change from the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

Usman Khawaja will play his first Test for Australia in two-and-a-half years in place of Travis Head, who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and is isolating in Melbourne.

England have recalled veteran seamer Stuart Broad to replace Ollie Robinson, who has a shoulder concern.

The start of play was delayed by 30 minutes due to rain.

Australia have already retained the Ashes thanks to an unassailable 3-0 series lead and are eyeing off a third series whitewash from their past five home campaigns against England.

There is some rain forecast for all five days of the match in Sydney, including 8-25mm of rain today, but the weather should improve as the game progresses.

Cummins believes the forecast rain will stop the SCG pitch from deteriorating.

"We're not going to blast them out. There's a little bit of grass on it but traditionally it's hard work and goes five days," he said yesterday.

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

England XI: Haseeb Hameed, Zak Crawley, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Mark Wood, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson

Vodafone Men's Ashes

Squads

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nic Maddinson, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

England: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Schedule

First Test: Australia won by nine wickets

Second Test: Australia won by 275 runs

Third Test: Australia won by an innings and 14 runs

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, Blundstone Arena