Australia drafted Mitchell Marsh into their 12 while England have dropped Jason Roy for the fifth Ashes Test that starts on Thursday, as the hosts look to level the series at 2-2.

Roy has failed to impress in the first four matches of the series, either as an opener or when he dropped down the order at Old Trafford, where he made a top score of 31.

Paceman Craig Overton has also been left out for the clash at the Oval, with Sam Curran and Chris Woakes, who made way for Overton at Old Trafford, coming into the side.

The England and Wales Cricket Board also confirmed that Ben Stokes would play as a specialist batsman due to a shoulder injury.

England need a victory at the Oval to draw the series, although Australia have already retained the Ashes.

Captain Joe Root said Roy had missed out due to Stokes’s injury, which meant the side needed re-balancing.

“It’s always tough to leave guys out, but Stokesy obviously picked up a shoulder injury in the last game and won’t be able to bowl the overs we normally expect him to,” he said on Wednesday.

“With that we’ve had to change the balance of the side, and Jason’s the unfortunate one to miss out.

“Jason’s had an opportunity to come in and play Test cricket, get a feel for it and it’s not quite gone how he would have liked.

“But I’m sure he’ll go away and work extremely hard and come back again.”

On the other side, Tim Paine described the Oval Test as Australia’s “grand final” as they target their first series win in England since 2001.

All-rounder Marsh has been recalled to the 12-man squad in place of Travis Head to ease the workload on Australia’s impressive pace attack.

“We’ve already spoken a lot about it (the final Test),” Paine said Wednesday on the eve of the match. “We came here to win the Ashes, not just to retain them.

“Last week’s result was brilliant and we played very well but all the guys are fully aware that this Test match is bigger than that one.

“This is our grand final. We want this Test just as much as any other Test that we’ve played in this series.”

Australia bounced back to win the fourth match of the series at Old Trafford after Stokes inspired England to a dramatic one-wicket win in the third Test at Headingley.

Root’s captaincy has come under scrutiny after England’s failure to regain the Ashes but Paine said Australia would not underestimate him.

“We know Joe Root’s a fantastic cricketer,” he said. “I don’t get sometimes why he’s under so much scrutiny but that’s this level of international sport.

“We know how competitive he is, we know how good he is, we know he’ll be coming hard and looking to bounce back this week so he’s a huge wicket for us as he always is.”

Paine said Marsh’s inclusion was aimed at easing the workload on his impressive pace attack and that he had “full faith” in his batting.

“We just wanted a bit more bowling depth in the squad to cover what looks like a really good wicket and be able to look after our big fast bowlers,” said Paine.

Australia’s XII:

David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade, Tim Paine (capt, wkt), Pat Cummins, Peter Siddle, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

England’s XI:

Joe Root (capt), Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes

(With AFP inputs)