Australia Playing 11 1st Test: Pat Cummins confirms Australia’s 11 for 1st Ashes Test in Brisbane

Australia Playing 11 1st Test: Australia’s captain Pat Cummins has revealed official Australia’s 11 for the first test at the Gabba in Brisbane.

The Ashes 2021 is set to start from 8 December 2021 at the Gabba in Brisbane. Pat Cummins is the new captain of the side, whereas Steve Smith is the new vice-captain. Cricket Australia have also confirmed that Alex Carey will be taking the gloves in the series.

Pat Cummins has officially announced the playing of Australia for the first test in Brisbane. Travis Head will beat Usman Khawaja to be in the playing eleven. Both of them were fighting for the number five slot, and Head has won the battle. Head has scored 394 runs at 49.25 in the Sheffield Shield this season, whereas Khawaja has scored 460 runs at 65.71.

Mitchell Starc has also retained his place in the playing eleven. Jhye Richardson was giving him a tough battle, but Starc gets the nod. Starc has 255 test wickets under his belt, but he managed to scalp just 11 wickets last summer against India. Richardson has been on fire this season, he has scalped 23 wickets in just four Sheffield Games at an average of 13.43.

Australia’s XI for Gabba Test: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

Australia Playing 11 1st Test: Joe Root dismisses to announce England’s playing 11

While Cummins has confirmed the side, Joe Root has denied announcing the squad before the game.

“We’ve got all the options on the table (but) we’re not going to name a team just yet,” Root said.

“We’ll have to see the closer forecase and how that pitch changes over the next couple of days.”

“But it’s a great place to play spin. It’s something we’ll weigh up and consider, but we’re not in a position to make that call right now.”

Australian coach Justin Langer has praised the preparation of the pace trio of Cummins-Hazlewood-Starc. He believes that the trio has prepared well despite the wet weather in Brisbane.

“(Their preparation) has been excellent,” Langer said.

“We had some brilliant centre-wicket practice (at Metricon Stadium), we always thought that their workloads coming from the World Cup and because we went so deep, that we might’ve had to work a bit harder on that, but they’ve been great.”