Win Projections to be updated soon
Cricket Australia has announced the 17-man squad for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against India and the Ashes series to be played in England. The Australian team will be captained by Pat Cummins, who has been leading the side since November, 2021.
Return of Mitchell Marsh
The squad includes the return of all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, who last played a Test match in September 2019. Opening batsman Marcus Harris has also earned a recall after impressing with his performances for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield. However, the exclusion of Peter Handscomb has come as a surprise to many. Handscomb had been part of the Australian squad that toured India earlier this year and had scored a century in the warm-up game. Despite his good form, the selectors opted to go for Harris and Inglis instead.
The inclusion of Marcus Harris over Cameron Bancroft as the back-up opener has also come as a surprise. Despite smashing 945 runs in the Sheffield Shield season this year, Bancroft has been overlooked in favour of Harris, who scored 601 runs in the same competition. It is worth noting, however, that Bancroft had scored these runs at an impressive average of 47.25, while Harris averaged 35.07.
The Australian cricket team is all set to travel to the UK in late May to take part in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) Final against India. According to ICC rules, the team will need to trim their 23-man squad to 15 players for the marquee clash, which will be played as a one-off Test match at The Oval from June 7. After the WTC Final, Australia will shift their focus to the highly-anticipated Ashes series against England, which will commence on June 20 with the first Test scheduled to be held at Edgbaston.
Australian Squad for the World Test Championship Final and Ashes tour:
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
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