The Ashes and World Test Championship final are fast approaching, and Australia has unveiled a 17-player squad for the first three Tests of this winter’s highly-anticipated England tour.
After facing India in a mouth-watering clash in London, Pat Cummins’ men will look to become the first Australian side to win an Ashes series on English soil since 2001.
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A confident England outfit stands in their way, with Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes reinvigorating the Test side since last year’s appointment as coach and captain respectively.
The World Test Championship final gets underway at The Oval on June 7, while the first Ashes Test commences at Edgbaston on June 16. A 15-player squad for the match against India will be named on May 28.
Australian Test Squad
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner
Warner at ‘mercy of selection’ for Ashes | 00:44
WINNERS
David Warner
Despite a recent dip in form, David Warner will return to England for his fourth, and presumably last, Ashes tour this winter.
The veteran opener is a modern legend of the game, but the left-hander is still searching for his maiden Test century on English soil. He endured a horror 2019 Ashes campaign, averaging 9.50 with the bat as England seamer Stuart Broad tormented him from around the wicket.
But despite registering just one Test century since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, national selectors have backed Warner to rediscover his vintage best in the World Test Championship final against India.
“Openers who can put pressure back on the bowlers, they’re priceless,” Australian captain Pat Cummins told foxsports.com.au last month.
“I know as a bowler, if someone’s a sitting duck, you feel like you’re going to get them eventually. If someone’s kind of taking the game to you, it presents a different challenge. That’s been the hallmark of Davey’s career.
“Over there in England, that’s what you’d want out of him, putting that pressure back on the bowlers.”
However, speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, chair of selectors George Bailey couldn’t promise that Warner would open the batting for the first Test against England at Edgbaston.
“Different opposition, different surface,” Bailey declared in an ominous four-word answer for Warner.
“We’ll work through that.”
Candice Warner backs husband’s selection | 02:37
Marcus Harris
After being axed ahead of the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Marcus Harris returns to the Test squad in a horses-for-courses selection, leapfrogging sub-continent specialist Peter Handscomb in the pecking order.
The Victorian, who was handed a Cricket Australia contract earlier this month, has not represented Australia since January last year, but his recent form against the Dukes ball has been enough to sway national selectors.
The 30-year-old has scored 1588 runs at 51.22 in the County Championship since 2020, plundering 59 and 148 during Gloucestershire’s season opener against Glamorgan.
Harris played three Tests during the 2019 Ashes tour, registering 58 runs at 9.66 in a forgettable campaign for the left-hander.
“Three years ago when I came over here to play for Leicester my goal was aiming towards the Ashes this year but also just to get some cricket under my belt in the UK,” Harris told RSN927 last week.
“Last time I came over to the Ashes in 2019 I’d never played over here at a professional level and it was probably a bit of a shock to the system.
“So if I‘m fortunate enough to get picked in the series this year, at least in the squad, I’ll have three seasons of county cricket under my belt to help myself be best prepared.”
Todd Murphy
Nathan Lyon’s heir apparent has done enough to secure a plane ticket to England, with Todd Murphy selected for his maiden Ashes campaign – presumably the first of many.
The young Victorian made his Test debut during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India, taking a seven-wicket haul in Nagpur and finishing the series with 14 wickets at 25.21.
Australia did not pick a second strike spinner for the 2019 Ashes because English conditions traditionally favour seam bowlers, and Murphy probably won’t crack into the starting XI if Lyon is available.
But the 22-year-old has cemented his status as Lyon’s successor, and this Ashes call-up is the latest chapter in the spectacled tweaker’s exponential rise through the ranks.
According to The Cricketer, Cricket Australia has blocked Murphy’s availability for the first half of the County Championship to monitor his workload ahead of the Ashes.
Matthew Renshaw
Despite a horror Test tour to India, Matthew Renshaw has earned a spot in Australia’s Ashes squad after plundering twin centuries against New Zealand A this month.
The Queenslander enjoyed a successful campaign with Somerset in the County Championship last year, scoring 620 runs at 47.69 in eight matches, including two centuries.
He continued that impressive form in the Sheffield Shield this summer, smacking 310 first-class runs at 51.66 for Queensland. He also scored 81 and 101 not out for the Prime Minister’s XI against West Indies in Canberra last November.
National selectors rewarded Renshaw with a long-awaited Test recall, picked for the New Year’s Test against South Africa and the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy — but he couldn’t make the most of the opportunity, registering scores of 5*, 0, 2 and 2.
But the 27-year-old pushed his case for an Ashes berth after scoring two centuries against the Dukes ball during the recent Australia A tour of New Zealand.
“We like Matt Renshaw,” Bailey said.
“We think he provides good flexibility for us in the middle. We also know he can bat at the top.
“We like the way he plays, we like the way he goes about it. Tough tour in India, but we like the skillset he brings in the UK.”
Mitchell Marsh
He’s back.
Mitchell Marsh has been selected for his fifth Ashes campaign after an injury-riddled four-year absence from the Australian Test side.
The West Australian all-rounder, who last played Test cricket during the 2019 Ashes, recently recovered from ankle surgery, but has been in blistering form with the bat since his return.
The 31-year-old was Australia’s leading run-scorer during last month’s ODI tour of India with 194 runs in three knocks, smacking an unbeaten century against Tasmania in his Sheffield Shield return.
Marsh, who took a five-wicket haul in his most recent Ashes Test at The Oval, will presumably serve as an injury replacement for Cameron Green if required, but Bailey confirmed there was a “potential” for both all-rounders to feature in the starting XI.
“It’s great to have Mitch back,” Bailey said.
“Not having Green during part of the India series highlighted to us the value of having a back-up (all-rounder). Mitch has performed well in the UK in the past, and we think he can add some real value.”
Brutal Marsh bludgeons India’s attack | 02:02
LOSERS
Michael Neser
Perhaps the unluckiest cricketer on this list, Michael Neser was the surprise omission from Australia’s Ashes squad, with only four strike pace bowlers named.
The Queenslander was included in the 2019 Ashes squad, but didn’t make his Test debut until the 2021/22 home summer. He has taken seven wickets at 16.71 in his two Test appearances, both in day-night fixtures at Adelaide Oval.
Neser is coming off a superb Sheffield Shield campaign, claiming 40 wickets at 16.67 and contributing 357 runs with the bat at 35.70, including a century against New South Wales in Sydney. The 33-year-old, a perennial 12th man in Australia’s Test team, was named Player of the Sheffield Shield this summer, also winning the coveted Ian Healy Trophy.
But despite earning a Cricket Australia contract earlier this month, he couldn’t convince national selectors he deserves a spot in the Ashes squad, with Scott Boland understandably still ahead of him in the pecking order.
However, with Josh Hazlewood still nursing an Achilles injury, there remains a slim chance Neser could be rushed into the squad as a like-for-like injury replacement.
“If we do need to call upon another quick, we can be really specific around who we need and why, and not necessarily have someone in the squad who end up being superfluous,” Bailey explained.
Cameron Bancroft
Another prolific Sheffield Shield campaign with Western Australian wasn’t enough for Cameron Bancroft to earn a long-awaited Test recall.
The 30-year-old, who last represented Australia in the 2019 Ashes campaign, finished as the Sheffield Shield’s leading run-scorer this summer with 945 runs at 59.06, including four centuries.
“My old way of thinking, I always like a right-and-left-hander combination. So I would love to see Cameron Bancroft get another opportunity at the top of the order,” former Australian Test captain Mark Taylor told AAP this week.
“I see Renshaw has been making runs in New Zealand (for Australia A), but Bancroft has made a heap of runs in the Australian summer.
“One thing I do like about Bancroft, which I also like about Renshaw, is their ability to catch in the field. In the next year or two, we‘re going to need to find two openers. The one thing that has worried me about Marcus Harris is his fielding.
“The way this series is looking like panning out, fielding is going to be crucial. I think that will go against someone like a Marcus Harris, whose fielding is not great.”
Broad uproots Bancroft’s off stump | 00:45
Peter Handscomb
It’s now clear that Peter Handscomb’s Test recall for the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy was purely a horses-for-courses selection, with the Victorian unceremoniously dumped ahead of the Ashes.
Handscomb was picked for the India tour after a four-year hiatus from the Test side, featuring in all four matches. The right-hander scored 145 runs at 29.00 in the low-scoring series, including a pair of gritty fifties in Nagpur and Delhi, before smacking 112 and 68 not out for Leicestershire in last week’s thrilling victory over Yorkshire in the County Championship.
And despite missing the second half of Victoria’s Sheffield Shield campaign, the 31-year-old finished as the state’s leading run-scorer with 634 runs at 70.44, including an unbeaten 281 against eventual champions Western Australia.
But Handscomb’s unorthodox batting technique has often been exposed against the swinging Dukes ball, with national selectors preferring Marcus Harris and Matthew Renshaw for this winter’s marquee series.
Sean Abbott
The New South Welshman was on the verge of a Test debut after breaking into the Australia squad a few years ago, but Sean Abbott has slowly fallen out of contention over the past 24 months.
Abbott has become a regular member of Australia’s white-ball teams, firming as a contender for this year’s World Cup squad in India – but the illusive baggy green remains out of reach.
The right-armed seamer finished this season’s Sheffield Shield as the Blues’ leading wicket-taker with 21 scalps at 29.33. He is currently representing Surrey in the County Championship, snaring a classy five-wicket haul in last week’s draw against Lancashire.
Matthew Kuhnemann/Mitchell Swepson
Despite impressive performances in red-ball cricket over the past 12 months, Matthew Kuhnemann and Mitchell Swepson have officially slipped below Todd Murphy in the pecking order.
Kuhnemann, who made his Test debut during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy, claimed career-best figures of 5-16 in the low-scoring Indore contest against India before steering Durham towards a miracle victory in the County Championship last week.
Meanwhile, Swepson finished the recent Australia A tour of New Zealand as the leading wicket-taker, snaring breakthroughs in all four innings despite the lack of spin on offer in Hamilton.
However, the Queensland spin duo might need to wait until Australia’s next subcontinent tour for another chance to prove their worth at Test level.
Kuhnemann spins county side to victory | 01:11
Lance Morris/Jhye Richardson/Will Sutherland
The pace trio of Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson and Will Sutherland would have been in contention for selection in Australia’s Ashes campaign if not for untimely injuries.
Morris, who is yet to make his Test debut, sustained a back injury following the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and is unlikely to feature in the England tour.
“We’ll look to rebuild Lance and hopefully have a big crack at the (home) summer,” Bailey said.
Richardson recently underwent surgery on his troublesome hamstring, targeting a return to full fitness ahead of this year’s World Cup in India.
“Injuries are a big part of cricket, that‘s a fact. Frustrating? Absolutely,” Richardson tweeted last month.
“But I’m now in a scenario where I can get back to doing what I love and work bloody hard to become an even better player than before.
“One step back, two steps forward. Let’s do this.”
Sutherland, this summer’s leading wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield, turned heads with a stunning all-round performance in the Sheffield Shield final in Perth, but sustained a lower back stress fracture last month to ruin his Ashes dream.
O’Keefe picks Buckingham as bolter | 00:52
