Australia have decided to drop Usman Khawaja for the fourth Ashes Test, it was confirmed on Tuesday (September 3). James Pattinson has been rested while Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc have been named in the 12 for the Test in Manchester.

Khawaja has scores of 13, 40, 36, 2, 8 and 23 so far in the series and has scored run at an average of 20.33. Labuschagne will bat at No. 3 while Smith will slot back at No. 4 as Australia look to retain the Ashes. Mitchell Marsh, however, finds himself out of favour once again despite his good all-round show against Derbyshire.

Australia's 12: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Tim Paine (c, wk), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins.
"The tough thing for Mitch and a few of them, is you have to bang so hard to get into the side like Matthew Wade, Marcus Harris did for example," Coach Justin Langer said. "He's craving some continuity of playing so he can get some performance on the board, I reckon. Obviously, he's played about thirty-odd Test matches, or about that, because we see the value of having a guy who can bat, hopefully, score hundreds in the top six and bowl pretty well."

"He's swinging the ball at the moment. We saw that. His seam position with the ball is outstanding. He's very, very fit at the moment, that's a positive sign. He's nice and fit, got a beautiful seam position. It would have been nice from his point of view to turn his 74 into 120 not out. That's about the banging so hard that you can't [ignore]. That's what we want to see from our players.

"I thought his footwork patterns were moving really well the last game. I think he plays fast bowling really well. He cuts and he pulls as good as anyone. With his height, the way he can pull the ball, and he's not intimidated by short-pitched bowling. That makes him a really good player, that's why he's in the squad. Whether he plays on Wednesday time will tell but they're the things they're looking at. Ultimately for him and for all the players, performances to ensure you have to be selected is what we're looking for and we've been consistent in saying that for the last 12 months."

Australia need to win one of the last two Tests or draw both the remaining games to retain the Ashes after the narrow loss in Leeds.