Rivals up for fight in Boxing Day Test

Border rejects ‘dead rubber’

Australian great Allan Border insists the Boxing Day Test will be anything but a dead rubber with both teams having plenty of incentive to do well in Melbourne.

Border, who played 156 Tests for Australia, including 93 as captain, said the home team would not want to take the foot off the English’s throat, while the visitors will be desperate to avoid a whitewash like those endured in the 2006-07 and 2013-14 series Down Under.

The Aussies lead the series 3-0 following comfortable wins in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth but Border said while the home team had already regained the coveted urn, there was still much to play for at the MCG.

“England have hammered us at home recently and a lot of guys get stung by that and the players want to reverse that when they come back to Australia,” he said.

“I think being the Ashes, you just don’t take your foot off the pedal.”

While there is obvious motivation for Steve Smith and his men to win the series 5-0, Border said the English would also be keen to finish the series well.

“They will say ‘bugger that, we have been pretty close in a couple of games but just haven’t won the big moments’,” he said. “They will have extra incentives to stop the rot.”

Border said England had been competitive in periods during the first three Tests but the home advantage had played a big part in the results.

The 62-year-old believes Trevor Bayliss’ team would have had the edge if the series was played in England, saying the main difference between the two teams has been the home side’s fast-bowling battery of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.

“That’s where I see our advantage is,” Border said. “On our pitches and our ball, you just need that velocity through the air a bit more and I think that’s shown up the England batting.

“That makes a big difference because you put pressure on the better batters. Joe Root and Alastair Cook haven’t really fired a shot.

“To me it’s hats off to the Australian bowlers. In the last Test they took 20 wickets to England’s nine.”

Border also singled out Aussie skipper Steve Smith, who has scored 426 runs in the series so far, for praise.

“It just comes down to that really,” he said. “I don’t want to over-simplify it but it was just the bowlers have been on top with Smith making key runs.”