Cameron Bancroft inspects his bats © Getty Images
Cameron Bancroft, Matthew Wade and Mitchell Marsh have earned recalls as part of Australia’s 17-man squad for the Ashes which also sees Peter Siddle and the uncapped Michael Neser form a six-man pace unit that includes James Pattinson.
Bancroft’s return means that all three players who were banned after the Newlands ball-tampering scandal feature in the squad and could all line-up at Edgbaston with Bancroft pushing strongly to be David Warner’s opening partner following his impressive 93 not out in the inter-squad match.
“We have chosen 17 players as this gives us the cover and flexibility we believe we will need to ensure we are in good shape throughout a demanding schedule of five Test matches in just over six weeks,” Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, said. “We believe the squad is an excellent blend of high-quality batsmen and top-class fast bowlers, plus Nathan Lyon, who we regard as the world’s best off-spinner in all conditions. It is a good mix of all the talents.
“David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft have forced their way back in to the Test squad through the excellence of their recent performances. David and Steve also have the advantage of being proven players at Test level while Cameron has produced impressive numbers for county side Durham this season and his innings in the intra-squad match in Southampton on a tough pitch was outstanding and showed his quality.
“Matthew Wade fully deserves his recall as he has made an irresistible case for inclusion through sheer weight of runs with 1021 first-class runs at home last summer followed by three hundreds on the Australia A tour, including an excellent 114 against the England Lions at Canterbury last week.”
Marnus Labuschagne is also included and his legspin will provide some back-up to Lyon who is the lone frontline spinner in the squad with Jon Holland overlooked. Kurtis Patterson and Joe Burns, who scored hundreds in Australia’s previous Test against Sri Lanka in February, miss out with a squeeze for batting spots following the returns of Warner and Steven Smith.
There is no spot for Alex Carey who impressed at the World Cup with Wade, rewarded for a prolific 2018-19 season which he carried into the Australia A tour, able to provide keeping cover for captain Tim Paine if required at short notice. However, Carey will also be close at hand as he has a T20 Blast deal with Sussex in county cricket.
The pace attack is a standout feature of the squad with Pattinson, who has been impressive over the last nine months for Victoria, Nottinghamshire and Australia A joining the established trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood – the latter back in Australian colours for the first time since suffering the stress fracture of his back in January which ultimately, and to his own frustration, kept him out of the World Cup – plus the experienced Siddle and the bustling seam of Neser.
For Marsh a place in the Ashes completes a noteable turnaround in fortunes after he was dropped from all formats during the last Australia home season and also lost his central contract in April. He took a five-wicket haul in Southampton and also showed composure with the bat in demanding conditions.
“James Pattinson has demanded inclusion after impressing everyone on the Australia A tour with his pace and control, following on from a good season at home for Victoria, and he returns to the Test squad, as does Peter Siddle, who has been in fine form in county cricket for Essex,” Hohns said
“Josh Hazlewood comes back after missing the Sri Lanka Test series and the World Cup as he recovered from a back injury and James, Peter and Josh, plus Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Michael Neser form a strong seam attack, with allrounder Mitchell Marsh also returning to the squad after impressing with bat and ball on the Australia A tour.
“We have opted to select one frontline spinner in Nathan Lyon. We have faith in his ability, we know our strength lies in our pace attack and we have Marnus Labuschagne’s legspin as another spin option as he has bowled almost 200 oversfor county side Glamorgan in first-class cricket this season.
“It has been a difficult task to reduce the 25-player squad here in Southampton down to 17 and those who have not made the final Ashes party are all desperately unlucky. However, that problem also highlights that we have a degree of depth to select from and that is a terrific positive.”
Squad Tim Paine (capt), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo