Spinner set for start in Sydney

LONDON: Leg-spinner Mason Crane’s experience playing in Sydney may prove the clincher to earn him a debut as England try to salvage their Ashes series with a win over Australia in the final Test.

Trailing 3-0 and with the Ashes well and truly lost, England are considering a possible change for the final Test in Sydney with Moeen Ali’s place under threat and Crane pushing for his first cap.

Moeen has played 48 Tests and came to Australia as one of England’s danger men having scored 252 runs at an average of 36 and taken 25 wickets at an average of 15 against South Africa last summer. However, Down Under he has only taken three wickets and is averaging just 19 with the bat, increasing the likelihood of his being dropped.

The Sydney Cricket Ground has a reputation as a turning wicket, enhancing Crane’s chances of making his debut.

The 20-year-old Hampshire legspinner also boasts a five-wicket haul playing at the famous ground for New South Wales last year.

Crane, who was impressing in Sydney club cricket, was called up by NSW and took five wickets in the Sheffield Shield victory against South Australia.

“With the series lost it gives us the opportunity to look at some different people,” England’s Australian coach Trevor Bayliss said.

Asked if Crane was ready for Test cricket, Bayliss added: “There’s maybe no time like the present to find out. We think he’s a guy that has got the goods and the more he plays at this level the better he will get.”

England outplayed Australia for the vast majority of last week’s fourth Test in Melbourne only for Steve Smith to bat out the entire last day with an unbeaten century for a draw.

Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc, who missed the Melbourne Test with a bruised heel, is likely to return to the Australia XI.