Australia Announce Squad For World Test Championship Final And Ashes

All-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been included in the side as he was away from a Test cricket for close to four years.

Cricket Australia has announced the squad for ICC World Test Championship where the Kangaroos will lock horns against India on June 7 at The Oval. They also declared the squad for the first two Ashes Tests that is scheduled to take place on June 16 at Edgbaston. All-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been included in the side as he was away from a Test cricket for close to four years.

Players like Marcus Harris and Josh Inglis have also been asked to join the side as backup opener and reserve wicketkeeper alongside Marsh. The 31-year-old Marsh has struggled a lot with his injury. The last time he took part in a Test match was back in 2019. In the last two years, he has played only one first-class game. However, Marsh proved his worth with the bat in the recently passed ODI series against India where he ended up taking the Player of the Series award.

As far as the bowling is concerned, there are four stalwarts in the side such as  Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Scott Boland. Mitchell Marsh and Cameroon Green will also provide pace bowling options. When it comes to spin,  Nathan Lyon and young Todd Murphy will showcase their skills.

"The World Test Championship is the culmination of more than two years of consistent performance at Test level by the team and the individuals involved, leading into an Ashes series which is always highly anticipated. The UK is a very different assignment from our most recent tour of India and some of the changes are based upon the conditions we are anticipating”, Australia's chief selector George Bailey said.

"Marcus Josh, and Mitch return to the squad and will provide valuable depth and flexibility within their respective skillsets. We see value in revisiting the squad following the second Ashes Test given the short turnaround between the WTC Final and the first Ashes Test, along with the length of the tour”, he added.

World Test Championship Final and Ashes Squad: 

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.