Australia announced their starting XI for the much anticipated Ashes opener that kicks off on Wednesday, December 8. The most notable selection was that of Travis Head, with Usman Khawaja not finding a place in the XI.
Head won the spot ahead of experienced Khawaja to regain his place, which he had lost during the home series against India earlier this year. Head averaged 49.25 in this Sheffield Shield season, having scored 394 runs with two hundreds to his name. In the same competition, Khawaja has amassed 460 runs at an average of 65.71, including two centuries.
The newly appointed Australia Test captain Pat Cummins revealed the playing XI and stated that the decision to select the no. 5 batter was a difficult one.
“It was a tight one. The selectors make the call. The experience from Uzzie is great and we are really lucky to have that but Trav has been playing a lot of us in the last couple of years and has gone away and he’s churned out runs in England, here in Australia, and we feel like he’s really ready to go.”
Cummins’ statement that Head has “churned out” runs in England factually doesn’t hold true as the left-hand batter had a torrid run for Sussex, scoring 183 runs in six matches at 18.30. In his overall career, Head has 1153 runs to his credit from 19 Tests at an average of 39.75 with two centuries.
In the bowling department, NSW paceman Mitchell Starc retained his place ahead of Jhye Richardson. Starc has come under fire from the fans and former cricketers for lack of returns in recent times. Speaking of this selection, Cummins revealed that Starc has been bowling well in the nets.
“He’s building up nicely, we had a really good centre-wicket yesterday, he was fast, he was swinging the ball big. We weren’t surprised but it was great to see. You’ve got some of the best batters in the world, Steve Smith, Marnus who looked like Starcy was a handful. So good signs.”
The focus will remain on Cummins in the first Test as to how he manages himself as a fast-bowling captain. Steve Smith, the vice captain of the team, could also have a more active leadership role.
