Ashes: Jhye Richardson Eyes Return To Australia's Squad For Boxing Day Test Against England

Right-arm speedster Jhye Richardson is eyeing a comeback in Australia's squad for the upcoming Boxing Day Test in Melbourne against England following a successful recovery from shoulder surgery, according to ESPNcricinfo.

Australia Test captain Pat Cummins is expected to sit out of the Melbourne Ashes Test, and potentially the rest of the series, with Australia retaining the Ashes after an emphatic 82-run win over the Ben Stokes-led England in Adelaide, which helped the Aussies to gain an unbeaten 3-0 lead in the ongoing five-match Ashes series.

If Pat Cummins sit out, then there is a vacant space in the Australian pace attack for the remainder of the Test matches against England in Melbourne and Sydney. Brendan Doggett and Michael Neser, who played earlier in the series, are also in contention to return to the playing XI for the Boxing Day Test, but according to ESPNcricinfo, Richardson is very close to being in consideration.

Notably, the right-arm pacer Richardson trained with the Australian side ahead of Adelaide but was not part of the squad. If Richardson's is included in the Test side, it would come exactly a year after he was last included, against India in the Boxing Day Test. Shortly after that, the speedster opted to undergo shoulder surgery to fix long-standing issues and was ruled out of action for nearly 12 months.

Richardson has made a gradual return to action in recent months, starting in grade cricket before playing for a Cricket Australia XI against England Lions. He then featured for Australia A against the Lions, where he increased his workload, claiming five wickets across 26 overs.

Till now, Richardson has played three Test matches since making his debut in 2018-19. The pacer has picked up 11 wickets at an average of 22.09.

After retaining the Ashes in Adelaide, Cummins said that there are no injury concerns for speedsters Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
"We had a pretty aggressive build-up knowing that it's the Ashes there to be won and we thought that was worth it," he said. "Now that the series has been won, there might be a sense of job's done and let's reassess the risk," Cummins said.

"Good luck to anyone telling Starcy or even Scotty Boland that they're going to miss a Boxing Day Test if they're fully fit," he added.