AUS vs ENG: Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon ruled out of remaining Ashes 2025/26

After securing 3 consecutive victories in the first three matches of the 5-match Ashes series 2025/26, Australia has already secured the series. The hosts, Australia, have defeated the visitors, England, by 8 wickets in the Perth Test, 8 wickets in the Brisbane Test, and 82 runs in the Adelaide Test. With this, England's wait to win the Ashes, which has been going on for the last 10 years, has become even longer. England last captured the Ashes in 2015. While England's last series victory on Australian soil came in 2009/10.

The fourth Ashes test will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and begins on December 26. Ahead of this test, Australia got a major setback. Australia skipper Pat Cummins & veteran spinner Nathan Lyon have been ruled out of the remaining two matches of the series.

Instead of them, pacer Jhye Richardson and spinner Todd Murphy have been included in the Australia squad for the Boxing Day test. After clinching the series 3-0, Pat Cummins has been afforded rest for the last two fixtures. 

"He won't play any part in the rest of the series," Australia coach Andrew McDonald told reporters on Tuesday. "That was a discussion that we had a long time ago about his return. Yeah, we were taking on some risk. We've now won the series, and that was the goal. To position him for further risk and jeopardise him long-term is not something that we want to do.

"Pat's really comfortable with that. If he had any setback in the build-in as well, we would have shut him down straight away," McDonald added.

In Cummins’s absence, Steve Smith is set to lead the side again. He will return after missing the third test. He also captained the hosts' side in the first two matches. Under his captaincy, Australia easily defeated England in the first two tests. 

Apart from Cummins, Australia will enter the Boxing Day test without Nathan Lyon. He sustained an injury when he dived to save a boundary on Day 5 of the Adelaide test. Cricket Australia confirmed that Lyon needs surgery after having torn his right hamstring. It is almost confirmed that Todd Murphy will play in Melbourne. Last time, Murphy featured in a test match against Sri Lanka in February 2025.

It will be interesting to see how many changes Australia makes in the upcoming cricket match. They already secured the series. So, they might be in Melbourne with 3 or 4 changes. It is also interesting to watch that instead of which player Steve Smith will return as a skipper. 

Australia squad for Boxing Day Test 

Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster