Australia unchanged, quicks to be monitored

After conceding the third-highest fourth-innings total in Test history, Australia captain Steve Smith says the National Selection Panel has discussed the possibility of bringing an allrounder back into the side to provide much-needed support for an overworked four-man bowling attack.

Quick Single: Pakistan's brave chase falls short

Australia have announced they will take the same 12-man squad that won the first Commonwealth Bank Test against Pakistan into the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, with the caveat that players will be assessed over the next 24 hours after they toiled for 145 overs in the field through the fourth innings at the Gabba.

Should one of the fast-bowling trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird not pull up sufficiently well ahead of the traditional MCG clash, retained 12th man Chadd Sayers – who leads this year's Sheffield Shield wickets tally with 29 – would almost certainly be the man to debut.

But Smith said an allrounder was also an option to be brought in as well and there remains a possibility that extra players will be added to the squad in the coming days.

"The selectors are talking about (including an allrounder) at the moment," the skipper said, shortly before selectors confirmed the second Test squad.

"It's obviously been a very tough Test match for our fast bowlers. They've bowled a lot of overs and we're going to have to see how they pull up.

"They'll be put on ice for the next couple of days and try to get back a bit of energy, and whatever soreness they've got in their body they'll try to get rid of that.

"So I think an allrounder will be talked about, but we'll wait and see which way the selectors go."

As the pink ball softened on a less grassy Brisbane pitch than those that have been prepared for the day-night Tests in Adelaide, Smith rotated his three fast bowlers with the spin of Nathan Lyon, while only Nic Maddinson's three overs offered that foursome any respite.

Spearhead Starc admitted he was "stiff and sore" before the final day of play and sent down a total of 56 overs for the match, while Hazlewood also bowled 56 and Bird (45 overs) and Lyon (40 overs) got through plenty of work.

The 38 overs Starc bowled in the fourth innings is the most he's ever bowled in a single Test innings, while Hazlewood's 42 overs is also a career high.

Mitchell Marsh had his issues with the bat in the Test team and selectors ultimately tired of his failure to make runs, however coach Darren Lehmann remained a staunch supporter of his wicket-taking ability even as the axe fell.

The West Australian took 29 wickets at 37 in his 19 Tests until selectors opted to rebalance the side with a more traditional six frontline batsmen, wicketkeeper, three pacemen and a spinner.

Marsh's lack of runs is likely to cost him a return to the side in the event of another rejig, and there are other allrounders who have been stating their case in the Sheffield Shield.

Limited-overs regular James Faulkner recently hit his maiden first-class hundred for Tasmania and combines powerful batting with left-arm seamers.

Faulkner, 26, has played one Test, taking six wickets in that match, and while he has performed brilliantly for Australia in the shorter formats, he has scarcely had a look-in again with the Test side since that debut in England in 2013.

Other options could be Blues allrounder Moises Henriques, who played Test cricket as recently as August in Sri Lanka but suffered a side strain in the Shield last month, putting a question mark on whether he is sufficiently fit to fill a fourth seamer's workload. However, the 29-year-old is fit enough to play the opening match of the KFC Big Bash League on Tuesday night.

Victoria's Marcus Stoinis and Western Australia's Hilton Cartwright both scored first-class hundreds for Australia A in their Winter Series against South Africa A and India A respectively, and could also come into the selectors' discussions.

It was confirmed that Shaun Marsh was not considered for the second Test due to a finger injury, meaning Nic Maddinson has earned a reprieve despite scores of 0, 1 and 4 in his three Test innings so far.

"These players have performed extremely well in earning back-to-back Test victories against South Africa and Pakistan and deserve the opportunity to stay together as a group to continue their development," interim selection chairman Trevor Hohns said of the 12-man squad.

"We have the option to add to the squad depending on how the bowling unit pulls up after getting through a lot of overs in Brisbane and if we opt to go down that path then that is a decision we will make over the coming days.

"Shaun Marsh was not considered for selection as he continues his recovery from the finger injury that sidelined him following the Perth Test match and which has required surgery. He will be assessed by a specialist this week and will hopefully be given the all-clear to return to unrestricted training, at which point we will be able to consider him again for selection.

"This squad has been selected for the Melbourne Test only and we will assess our requirements for Sydney during the Melbourne Test."

Australia's Boxing Day Test squad: David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Peter Handscomb, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird, Chadd Sayers

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