England may rest jaded Finn for massive fourth Test in Melbourne
Published:England may decide to rest fast bowler Steven Finn for the highly important fourth Test against Australia as they bid to reclaim their advantage in the Ashes series.
Australia’s dominant performance in the third Test in Perth saw them level the five-game series 1-1 and they are now the 6/4 favourites in the Ashes betting odds to secure the necessary results in Melbourne and Sydney to win the series.
Ricky Ponting’s team are also 6/4 to win the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and strike while the iron is hot in their positive camp.
After a dismal second Test, Australia benefited from some changes to their line-up in Perth, with Mitchell Johnson returning to the bowling attack to claim the man of the match award.
Fast bowler Chris Tremlett was a rare bright light for England in his first Test of the series with eight wickets and England are hoping that another bowling change could spark a similar result.
Both youngster Finn and James Anderson looked jaded in Perth and coach Andy Flower is considering resting Finn so that he is fully recharged for the fifth Test that is likely to decide the whereabouts of the Ashes.
Flower said: “The workload on our bowlers is heavy. A five-Test series is hard on everyone – for the fast bowlers even more so.”
With Flower also keen to stick by a four-bowler attack it is likely that one of the Yorkshire duo of Tim Bresnan or Ajmal Shahzad would take over from Finn, who is England’s top series wicket-taker with 14, but was also expensive in Perth.
England are 13/8 to win the fourth Test, which would also be enough to hold on to the Ashes after their victory two years ago.
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