Scott Boland has kept his spot in Australia’s XI for the first Test against South Africa as expected, while Pat Cummins’ return from injury has been confirmed.
Australia captain Cummins confirmed the team on Friday with Boland holding onto his position to earn a fifth Test cap.
It means that two-Test player Michael Neser is the player to make way despite taking 2-34 and 3-22 against the West Indies in Adelaide last week.
Meanwhile, Josh Hazlewood stays on the sidelines with a minor sidestrain, and is joined by Neser and exciting WA speedster Lance Morris.
Australia’s top-seven remains the same, with David Warner still under no pressure at the top of the order.
Cummins’ return also means he will retake the captaincy from Steve Smith, who deputised for the day-night match in Adelaide.
Watch Australia v South Africa. Every test match live and ad-break in play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
Stars set to honour late Shane Warne | 00:54
A decidedly green-tinged Gabba pitch looks set to reward the quicks, with South Africa’s talented pace quartet of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Marco Jansen promising a much stiffer test than the Australians faced in their 2-0 sweep of the West Indies.
It is the first Test meeting of the two nations since the infamous ‘Sandpapergate’ incident of 2018.
MORE NEWS
Green Gabba monster revealed, legends snub tourists as Aussies make big team call
‘Go on, f**k off’: Aus-South Africa bad blood started long before Sandpapergate
MORE TO COME
