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England's Ashes Tour of Australia (2025)
- Thread starter Ball Blazer
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Ricky Ponting selects his Australia XI for first Ashes Test
The hosts’ build-up to the first Ashes Test has been anything but straightforward, but Ricky Ponting has voiced his Australia XI for the series opener in Perth.
ICC Hall of Famer Ricky Ponting has revealed his preferred Australian line-up for the first Ashes Test against England on The ICC Review, backing Jake Weatherald for a Test debut and opting for Brendan Doggett to join the pace attack.
Australia have had mounting injury concerns in the build-up to the marquee series with pacers Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins both out of the first Test, along with back-up quick Sean Abbott.
Factoring that in as well as team balance and combinations, Ponting’s pick for the Australia XI featured a debutant to go with a rejigged pace bowling line-up.
“I feel that Australia's best team has Jake Weatherald opening the batting along with (Usman) Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne at three,” Ponting told host Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review.
“He’s (Labuschagne) done absolutely everything that's been asked of him over the last month, scoring hundreds at will, coming back into the side at No.3.
“Steve Smith (at) four, Travis Head (at) five, Cameron Green (at) six, Carey (at) seven.
“With (Scott) Boland, (Mitchell) Starc, probably Doggett gets the nod ahead of Michael Neser and Nathan Lyon, who was always going to play anyway, I think that will be Australia's team.”
With his preferred XI laid out, Ponting unpacked how Australia arrived at such a selection dilemma ahead of the Ashes.
The loss of Hazlewood to a hamstring strain is a significant one – he is approaching 300 wickets after 76 Tests – and his absence is compounded by the unavailability of captain Cummins, leaving Boland, Starc and Doggett as the front-line fast bowling options, with the selectors adding Michael Neser as cover for the first Test.
“If you had asked me this (to pick the XI) a week ago, my thoughts might have been slightly different,” Ponting said.
“Obviously, we've had Josh Hazlewood go down with that hamstring strain, it seems like, in the last (Sheffield) Shield game that he played. Brendan Doggett is already in the squad, he's been called in. Michael Neser has also been called into the squad now.
“So a week ago, I felt that they were going to play Jake Weatherald as the opener and Labuschagne at No.3 and that Doggett would probably just come in, Boland comes in the absence of Pat Cummins. But now things could be different.
“The fact that Hazelwood is not there, they'll have Starc, Boland, probably Doggett. Do they now think that they might need some more bowling cover as far as the all-rounders are concerned?
“Do they now think they might need Beau Webster to be in that side as well. So there are a lot of questions that I am not really sure what the outcome or the answer is.”
He pointed out that with a fully fit attack, Green’s workload would have been more than manageable after an encouraging Shield outing, where he blazed a brilliant 94 for Western Australia, in addition to picking up a wicket in his fiery spell with the ball in the first innings.
“If they had their full strength bowling group, Cameron Green, having got through the Shield game last week, I think they would have been more than comfortable going into a Perth Test with him as the all-rounder that could bowl eight, 10, 12 overs in an innings,” Ponting noted.
But the absence of Hazlewood has ensured Beau Webster is in the conversation, particularly after a standout bowling display in his most recent outing for Tasmania, picking up eight wickets, including 5/50 in the first innings.
“Beau Webster in this last Shield game as well, missed out with the bat in both innings but picked up eight wickets with the ball. So he's also thrown a bit of a spanner into the works there as far as selection is concerned," Ponting added.
Australia take on England in the first of five Ashes Tests as part of the ICC World Test Championship at Perth Stadium in Western Australia, beginning Friday, 21 November.
ICC
The hosts’ build-up to the first Ashes Test has been anything but straightforward, but Ricky Ponting has voiced his Australia XI for the series opener in Perth.
ICC Hall of Famer Ricky Ponting has revealed his preferred Australian line-up for the first Ashes Test against England on The ICC Review, backing Jake Weatherald for a Test debut and opting for Brendan Doggett to join the pace attack.
Australia have had mounting injury concerns in the build-up to the marquee series with pacers Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins both out of the first Test, along with back-up quick Sean Abbott.
Factoring that in as well as team balance and combinations, Ponting’s pick for the Australia XI featured a debutant to go with a rejigged pace bowling line-up.
“I feel that Australia's best team has Jake Weatherald opening the batting along with (Usman) Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne at three,” Ponting told host Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review.
“He’s (Labuschagne) done absolutely everything that's been asked of him over the last month, scoring hundreds at will, coming back into the side at No.3.
“Steve Smith (at) four, Travis Head (at) five, Cameron Green (at) six, Carey (at) seven.
“With (Scott) Boland, (Mitchell) Starc, probably Doggett gets the nod ahead of Michael Neser and Nathan Lyon, who was always going to play anyway, I think that will be Australia's team.”
With his preferred XI laid out, Ponting unpacked how Australia arrived at such a selection dilemma ahead of the Ashes.
The loss of Hazlewood to a hamstring strain is a significant one – he is approaching 300 wickets after 76 Tests – and his absence is compounded by the unavailability of captain Cummins, leaving Boland, Starc and Doggett as the front-line fast bowling options, with the selectors adding Michael Neser as cover for the first Test.
“If you had asked me this (to pick the XI) a week ago, my thoughts might have been slightly different,” Ponting said.
“Obviously, we've had Josh Hazlewood go down with that hamstring strain, it seems like, in the last (Sheffield) Shield game that he played. Brendan Doggett is already in the squad, he's been called in. Michael Neser has also been called into the squad now.
“So a week ago, I felt that they were going to play Jake Weatherald as the opener and Labuschagne at No.3 and that Doggett would probably just come in, Boland comes in the absence of Pat Cummins. But now things could be different.
“The fact that Hazelwood is not there, they'll have Starc, Boland, probably Doggett. Do they now think that they might need some more bowling cover as far as the all-rounders are concerned?
“Do they now think they might need Beau Webster to be in that side as well. So there are a lot of questions that I am not really sure what the outcome or the answer is.”
He pointed out that with a fully fit attack, Green’s workload would have been more than manageable after an encouraging Shield outing, where he blazed a brilliant 94 for Western Australia, in addition to picking up a wicket in his fiery spell with the ball in the first innings.
“If they had their full strength bowling group, Cameron Green, having got through the Shield game last week, I think they would have been more than comfortable going into a Perth Test with him as the all-rounder that could bowl eight, 10, 12 overs in an innings,” Ponting noted.
But the absence of Hazlewood has ensured Beau Webster is in the conversation, particularly after a standout bowling display in his most recent outing for Tasmania, picking up eight wickets, including 5/50 in the first innings.
“Beau Webster in this last Shield game as well, missed out with the bat in both innings but picked up eight wickets with the ball. So he's also thrown a bit of a spanner into the works there as far as selection is concerned," Ponting added.
Australia take on England in the first of five Ashes Tests as part of the ICC World Test Championship at Perth Stadium in Western Australia, beginning Friday, 21 November.
ICC
RedwoodOriginal
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Yeah but Stokes bowling is a bit of a double-edged sword for England. On one hand, you know he will add value with the ball because he has a knack for picking up crucial wickets and delivering big spells. On the other hand, it could lead to injury which would be a massive blow for England. In a five-match test series he will have to be very careful with his bowling workload, because it has lead to injuries multiple times in the recent past
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The visitors have announced their 12-member squad for the Ashes opener against Australia in Perth, starting 21 November.
England speedster Mark Wood has been declared fit and is named in the 12-member squad announced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for the first match against Australia.
Wood bowled eight overs in the warm-up match against the England Lions and went off the field for precautionary scans after feeling stiffness in his left hamstring.
He did not take the field again in the warm-up game but was eventually cleared fit and is now in the running for the playing XI for the series opener.
With the Optus Stadium expected to assist fast bowling, England have gone with a pace-heavy attack in Jofra Archer, Wood, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and the added option of the fit-again captain Ben Stokes.
Shoaib Bashir is the lone spinner in the bowling attack, though England can rely on the part-time spin of Joe Root should they choose to go with an all-pace battery.
There were no surprises in the batting line-up named in the 12-member squad, with Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley expected to open, followed by the reliable middle order featuring Ollie Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Stokes and wicket-keeper Jamie Smith.
England’s 12-member squad for first Ashes Test: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir.
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No Jacks or Tongue; Pope over Bethell as forecast.
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They had Mark Wood bowling in a special pressurised and climatised tent in Lougborough in preparation for the Ashes. I hope he doesn't get injured.
Seeing Wood and Archer charging in will really make this series. They should unleash them in the first match to try and go 1-0 up against a weaker Aussie side.
Seeing Wood and Archer charging in will really make this series. They should unleash them in the first match to try and go 1-0 up against a weaker Aussie side.
