England will maintain attacking approach at SCG, says Crawley

Zak Crawley, the England opener, assured that England would continue to play an attacking brand of cricket irrespective of the bowling combination Australia put out for the fifth and the final Test of the ongoing Ashes series.

Even as the ongoing series has seen little interest for spinners from both sides, Todd Murphy is expected to come in to the XI for the SCG Test. Crawley re-affirmed that England would look to put the spinner, who is set to play his maiden home Test, under pressure.

"Whoever plays, I think that's the mantra of our team, is to try and put pressure on people," Crawley said on Friday. "Todd's a very good bowler, but I can envisage us trying to put some pressure on him, like we would all their bowlers. That's going to come with some risks, and if it's turning it, it's definitely going to be a threat."

Murphy has featured in only seven Tests so far - all away from home - and has picked 22 wickets. With Nathan Lyon ruled out, he could get his first opportunity to lead Australia's spin attack at home.

England too are likely to bring in Shoaib Bashir, who hasn't featured in a single game in the ongoing series, into the XI for the SCG Test. The visitors named their XII for the fifth Test, which also included Matthew Potts in place of Gus Atkinson.

England's XII for SCG Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith, Brydon Carse, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir

Much of England's worries have come from their batting failures. Crawley admitted that the visitors haven't adjusted well to the conditions but also stated that there wasn't much to change, and do what has brought them success for all these months.

Even as the series is lost, with Australia leading 3-1, England would hope to finish on a winning note. The attention for that has moved to the pitch at SCG which has presented a greenish look ahead of the Test, especially following the two-day Test in Melbourne last week.

However, SCG's chief curator Adam Lewis is hopeful of witnessing five days of action. "You want to see green tinge three days out," Lewis said. "If you're not seeing any live grass three days out, then that's when [it's a worry]... I'm really comfortable with where we're sitting."

"We took our learnings from last year," Lewis said. "Maybe a bit too much in it on day one. We always get nervous this time of year. This is our grand final. We work months leading into our Test preparation.

"We're just excited to get there. The only thing we can't control is the weather. We're just trying to prepare a pitch that's a great balance for bat and ball. We had a little bit of sun this morning. They're saying a bit more sun tomorrow. That will take the greenness out of the pitch. We're really happy with the pitches at the moment. We're looking good."