On Wednesday, 16 days out from the Ashes 2025-26, Australia announced their 15-man squad for the first Ashes Test against England.
Steve Smith will lead the side, as has been confirmed earlier, in the absence of the injured skipper Pat Cummins, who will travel with the team and increase his bowling workload.
Marnus Labuschagne, who was dropped from the squad for the West Indies tour a few months ago, earned a recall to the setup, which was rendered certain following his unbelievable form in domestic cricket: Labuschagne has notched up five centuries in his last eight innings for Queensland across first-class and List-A competitions.
But whether he bats at No. 3 or opens will most likely depend on whether Australia are confident in playing Cameron Green as a proper all-rounder or whether they will require both Green and Beau Webster in the XI.
Further, one big change in the setup is the axing of the 20-year-old young opener Sam Konstas, who has been dropped and replaced by Tasmania’s 31-year-old opener Jake Weatherald.
Why Is Sam Konstas Dropped From Australia Squad For the 1st Ashes Test?
Owing to his poor form in Test cricket, Sam Konstas has been dropped from Australia’s squad for the 1st Test of the upcoming Ashes 2025-26 against England and is replaced by Jake Weatherald.
Konstas made a memorable Test debut against India last year in November, whacking 60 runs in T20 style, which included scoops and reverse scoops against Jasprit Bumrah.
However, since his debut Test series, Konstas has failed to replicate anything near that. He indeed had a disastrous tour of the West Indies, where he managed only 50 runs across six innings. His strike rate of 81 against India was considered a point-of-difference factor. However, in the three Tests in the West Indies, his strike rate fell to 33.
And while last month, he recorded a century and a score of 49 for Australia A against India A, those knocks came in good batting conditions in Lucknow. On the other hand, the Ashes is expected to be played on spicy Australian pitches.
Sam Konstas has hit only one half-century in nine domestic innings this season so far. His replacement, Jake Weatherald, meanwhile, has raised three half-centuries in his last three matches, including a top score of 94.
Australia’s chair of selectors George Bailey said that he’d had a chat with Konstas over his axing from the Test team and asserted that it’s his lack of runs that was the reason for his exclusion.
Bailey said, “Every conversation with Sam is a joy. He’s got a great outlook on life. He remains incredibly upbeat. The scrutiny on him is almost unprecedented on some levels, I think. So, just checking in, seeing how he’s feeling about the start of the year, what his focus is at the moment. And then it was just more what we could do to support him going forward, and what we’d like to see. And as complicated as we try and make cricket, really it’s about runs.”
When will the Ashes 2025-26 start? Date and venue of the first Test?
The Ashes 2025-26 will begin on November 21 at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
Ashes 2025-26: Australia squad for first Test
Steven Smith (C), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Inglis (wk), Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Travis Head, Mitchell Starc, Brendan Doggett, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
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