Australia will reportedly have two debutants for the Ashes series opener against England at Perth Stadium, with opener Jake Weatherald and seamer Brendan Doggett set to receive their baggy green caps on Friday.
As first reported by CODE Sports, Australia has decided to drop all-rounder Beau Webster for the Perth Test, with Cameron Green slotting back down at No. 6. The report has since been confirmed by multiple publications, with Australia’s players informed of the team ahead of their final training session on Thursday.
Marnus Labuschagne returns to his favoured position at No. 3, while Weatherald opens alongside veteran Usman Khawaja. It will mark the first time Australia has chosen multiple debutants in a Test since early 2019.
Stand-in captain Steve Smith will confirm the starting XI when he fronts media at 3pm AEDT.
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Doggett will become the third Indigenous cricketer to represent Australia in men’s Test, alongside Jason Gillespie and Scott Boland.
the first Ashes Test between Australia and England gets underway at Perth Stadium on Friday at 1.20pm AEDT.
Expected Australian XI
Jake Weatherald, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett
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‘JUST COME ON’: STOKES HITS BACK OF ASHES CLAIM
Ben Stokes has once again bristled at questions over England’s Ashes preparations.
The tourists will have played just one, three-day match against the England Lions when they take the field in Perth on Friday for the first Ashes Test.
Before that was six limited overs matches against New Zealand.
Australia’s players meanwhile, were able to fit in Shield matches alongside national limited over commitments.
It prompted criticism from a number of former England stars including Michael Vaughan and Ian Botham.
Asked by another England great Michael Atherton what the ideal predation looks like, Stokes doubled down.
“Preparation is physical and mental,” he told Atherton on Sky Sports.
“We’ve been preparing for this for a long time. There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that isn’t seen by the cameras, by the eyes, by the likes of yourself and everyone else involved in the game, punditry wise.
“We’ve gone about our away tours in a specific way that fits this group.
“People can have an opinion about that. We know what we are doing. If you think we are going to be coming out here, thinking we can wing it, just come on.
It comes after Stokes labelled former players who questioned their preparation “has-beens”./
“I don’t know what else we’re expected to be able to do.
“There’s [Sheffield] Shield cricket going on at the moment, so who would we play against?
“So there’s quite a few factors that play into the whole of why we can’t [prepare] how the has-beens have maybe prepared in the past.”
MARSH’S SURPRISE MOVE IN TEST RECALL BID
Mitchell Marsh is set to make his red-ball return next month as Australia contemplates the possibility or parachuting him into the Test side for the Ashes campaign.
The West Australian, who has been in blistering form in the national white-ball team, has not played a first-class contest since last summer’s Boxing Day Test against India, after which he was dropped for fellow all-rounder Beau Webster.
However, national selectors have on multiple occasions declared that Marsh’s Test career wasn’t over, keeping the door open for him to make an appearance for this summer’s Ashes series.
ESPNcricinfo has reported the 34-year-old will make his Sheffield Shield return during Western Australia’s clash with Victoria at the MCG, commencing on December 4. According to the report, there may be a discussion between the national selectors and Western Australia about which position Marsh bats in for the four-day contest, including the potential for him to open at slot in at No. 3.
Marsh has repeatedly downplayed his chances of a Test recall – declaring he would be “six beers deep” on day one of the Ashes opener in Perth – but coach Andrew McDonald recently declared he would be “comfortable” with picking him again if it benefited the team.
While there may not be room for Marsh in the Test side’s middle order, multiple pundits – including former England captain Michael Vaughan – have called for him to be reinvented as an opener that can heap pressure on England’s quicks against the new ball.
However, the right-hander averages 12.57 when batting above No. 6 in Tests, albeit with a small sample size of nine innings.
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STARC’S GABBA CONFESSION
Mitchell Starc has confessed Australia’s cricketers would prefer to start their Test summer at the Gabba fortress.
For the first time since 1982, an Ashes series in Australia won’t start at the Brisbane venue, with Perth Stadium hosting the first Test, as it has done across the last four summers.
England has not won a Test match at the Gabba since 1986, with Starc revealing he and his teammates wanted to get their Ashes campaign underway in Queensland.
“(They) don’t listen to players,” Starc told reporters in Perth on Wednesday.
“We would have liked to start in Brisbane too.”
Last summer, Australia lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series opener against India at Perth Stadium by 295 runs.
The first Ashes Test between Australia and England gets underway at Perth Stadium on Friday at 1.20pm AEDT.
