With the Ashes starting at the Gabba in Brisbane this Wednesday, 8 December, here’s a look at both the Australia and England squads.
Australia 15-man Ashes squad:
Pat Cummins (C)
Age: 28
Tests: 34, Ashes Tests: 10
Playing role: Right-arm fast
Test bowling average: 21.59, Ashes bowling average: 21.84
Once renowned as an injury-prone paceman of great potential but is now preparing to become the first Australian male bowler to lead the side since Richie Benaud. Intriguing to see how he juggles the added workload but he’s the number one Test bowler in the world for a reason.
David Warner
Age: 35
Tests: 86, Ashes Tests: 23
Playing role: Left-handed batter
Test batting average: 48.09, Ashes batting average: 39.39
Fresh from player-of-the-tournament honours at the Twenty20 World Cup. Local conditions should help his bid to improve on a horror 2019 Ashes, when routinely tormented by Stuart Broad.
Marcus Harris
Age: 29
Tests: 10, Ashes Tests: 3
Playing role: Left-handed batter
Test batting average: 23.77, Ashes batting average: 9.66
The incumbent Test opener has a golden chance to nail down his spot in the XI, especially with Will Pucovski set to miss the series. Hasn’t been in great Sheffield Shield form as of late, averaging 36.75 from his four innings this season.
Marnus Labuschagne
Age: 27
Tests: 18, Ashes Tests: 4
Playing role: Right-handed batter
Test batting average: 60.8, Ashes batting average: 50.42
The man occupying fourth spot on the ICC’s Test batting rankings will seek to extend a remarkably rapid rise since the 2019 Ashes, when he entered the fray as a concussion substitute at Lord’s and helped salvage a draw.
Steve Smith
Age: 32
Tests: 77, Ashes Tests: 27
Playing role: Right-handed batter
Test batting average: 61.8, Ashes batting average: 65.11
Arguably the most important player in Australia’s bid to retain the urn. Scored a stack of runs during the corresponding series in 2015, 2017-18 and 2019.
Usman Khawaja
Age: 34
Tests: 44, Ashes Tests: 12
Playing role: Left-handed batter
Test batting average: 40.66, Ashes batting average: 29.85
Locked in a selection showdown with Travis Head over the No.5 spot in the batting order. Hasn’t played international cricket since being axed during the 2019 Ashes. Is averaging 65.71 across innings in the Sheffield Shield this season.
Travis Head
Age: 27
Tests: 19, Ashes Tests: 4
Playing role: Left-handed batter
Test batting average: 39.75, Ashes batting average: 27.28
Posted a century in his final Sheffield Shield match before linking up with the Test squad in Brisbane. Like Khawaja, will be keen to improve on his output in the 2019 Ashes and is averaging 49.25 in his eight Shield innings this season.
Cameron Green
Age: 22
Tests: 4, Ashes Test: 0
Playing role: Allrounder (right-handed batter, right-arm fast-medium)
Test batting average: 33.71, Ashes batting average: N/A
Test bowling average: N/A, Ashes bowling average: N/A
The burden of expectation on the young gun will likely grow this summer, especially given Ben Stokes is part of the opposing XI. Still hunting his first Test wicket.
Alex Carey
Age: 30
Tests: 0, Ashes Tests: 0
Playing role: Right-handed wicketkeeper-batter
Test batting average: N/A, Ashes batting average: N/A
The first Australian gloveman to make his Test debut at home since Adam Gilchrist. Quickly became a leader in Australia’s ODI side after debuting in 2018.
Mitchell Starc
Age: 31
Tests: 61, Ashes Tests: 13
Playing role: Left-arm fast
Test bowling average: 27.57, Ashes bowling average: 28.18
Shane Warne has launched another campaign to axe the fast bowler, who failed to produce his best at the T20 World Cup. Selectors will likely be more patient, although Jhye Richardson’s return to fitness creates obvious pressure.
Nathan Lyon
Age: 34
Tests: 100, Ashes Tests: 23
Playing role: Right-arm offbreak
Test bowling average: 32.12, Ashes bowling average: 30.52
The most experienced member of the XI. Australia’s most prolific finger spinner needs just one more scalp to celebrate his 400th Test wicket.
Josh Hazelwood
Age: 30
Tests: 55, Ashes Tests: 13
Playing role: Right-arm fast-medium
Test bowling average: 25.65, Ashes bowling average: 24.43
The metronomic right-armer recently won the T20 World Cup and IPL, adding another string to his bow. However, like Cummins and Starc, he is yet to play a red-ball match this summer.
Jhye Richardson
Age: 25
Tests: 2, Ashes Tests: 0
Playing role: Right-arm fast
Test bowling average: 20.5, Ashes bowling average: N/A
Demanded selection in the squad with a dominant Shield display at the Gabba. Debuted in 2019 then endured two and a half years of injury hell after landing awkwardly on his shoulder in a fielding mishap.
Michael Neser
Age: 31
Tests: 0, Ashes Tests: 0
Playing role: Right-arm medium-fast
Test bowling average: N/A, Ashes bowling average: N/A
Perennial 12th man throughout recent years. Likely to be on drinks duty for the bulk of this summer, but don’t discount his hopes of a debut if Australia’s star quicks have a big workload.
Mitchell Swepson
Age: 28
Tests: 0, Ashes Tests: 0
Playing role: Legbreak
Test bowling average: N/A, Ashes bowling average: N/A
A raging turner at the SCG or injury to Lyon appears his most likely hope of a baggy green this summer.
England’s 18-man Ashes squad:
Joe Root (C)
Age: 30
Tests: 109, Ashes Tests: 24
Playing role: Right-handed batter
Test batting average: 50.15, Ashes batting average: 40.33
Finished England’s most recent Ashes tour on a drip, with doubters questioning his captaincy, and still no hundred in Australia. Six centuries this year suggest the world’s top-ranked Test batter has never been placed better to have a big tour.
Rory Burns
Age: 31
Tests: 29, Ashes Tests: 5
Playing role: Left-handed batter
Test batting average: 32.3, Ashes batting average: 39
The opener, dubbed a “crippled crab” at the crease by Ian Chappell because of unique technique, faced more balls than any other Englishman during his debut Ashes series in 2019.
Haseeb Hameed
Age: 24
Tests: 6, Ashes Tests: 0
Playing role: Right-handed batter
Test batting average: 35.9, Ashes batting average: N/A
Expected to partner Burns at the top of the order. Threatened to be a one-tour wonder after debuting against India in 2016, now has a chance to halt England’s revolving door of opening partnerships.
Dawid Malan
Age: 34
Tests: 17, Ashes Tests: 5
Playing role: Left-handed batter
Test batting average: 28.62 , Ashes batting average: 42.55
Set to occupy the all-important No.3 spot in the order. A knock of 140 was the highlight of his 2017-18 tour of Australia, but the veteran also failed to pass 20 in five innings of that series.
Ben Stokes
Age: 30
Tests: 71, Ashes Tests: 14
Playing role: Allrounder (left-handed batter, right-arm fast-medium)
Test batting average: 37.04, Ashes batting average: 38.37
Test bowling average: 31.38, Ashes bowling average: 35.94
The late addition of England’s talisman, capable of winning a Test with bat or ball, will make the tourists stand so much taller. And conjure memories of Headingley heartbreak among Australia’s XI.
Jonny Bairstow
Age: 32
Tests: 78, Ashes Tests: 19
Playing role: Right-handed wicketkeeper-batter
Test batting average: 33.7, Ashes batting average: 26.96
One of England’s mainstays in the middle order – and one of few to fire during the 2017-18 Ashes.
Jos Buttler
Age: 31
Tests: 53, Ashes Tests: 10
Playing role: Right-handed wicketkeeper-batter
Test batting average: 33.33, Ashes batting average: 20.5
Once thought of as a white-ball specialist, Buttler is an established part of England’s red-ball plans and set to play his first Test in Australia. Smashed a match-winning 71no against Pat Cummins’ side at the Twenty20 World Cup.
Ollie Robinson
Age: 28
Tests: 5, Ashes Tests: 0
Playing role: Right-arm medium-fast
Test bowling average: 19.6, Ashes bowling average: N/A
Coming off a productive home summer with the ball, during which he debuted and made headlines for offensive social media posts from 2012 and 2013. Was handed an eight-match ban by England’s cricket board, with five games of that punishment suspended.
Stuart Broad
Age: 35
Tests: 149, Ashes Tests: 32
Playing role: Right-arm fast-medium
Test bowling average: 27.84, Ashes bowling average: 29.35
Has been in the middle of so many unforgettable Ashes moments – good and bad for England. The veteran, whose haul of 8-15 helped roll Australia for just 60 in 2015, will again be key to England’s hopes of reclaiming the urn.
Jack Leach
Age: 30
Tests: 16, Ashes Tests: 4
Playing role: Left-arm orthodox
Test bowling average: 29.98, Ashes bowling average: 25.83
Expected to get the nod as England’s frontline spinner despite not playing in their home summer. The bespectacled tweaker wrote himself into Ashes folklore in a final-wicket stand with Stokes at Headingley.
Jimmy Anderson
Age: 39
Tests: 166, Ashes Tests: 32
Playing role: Right-arm fast-medium
Test bowling average: 26.62, Ashes bowling average: 34.56
The legend was widely considered a long shot to make this tour when injury ruined his 2019 Ashes, but continues to prove doubters wrong. The legend, with 632 Test wickets to his name, looms as an even bigger threat if overcast skies continue to blanket the series.
Dom Bess
Age: 24
Tests: 14, Ashes Tests: 0
Playing role: Right-arm offbreak
Test bowling average: 33.97, Ashes bowling average: N/A
Admitted he started “hating cricket” amid biosecurity bubble fatigue and a dip in form on this year’s tour of India. Overlooked throughout England’s home summer, but back in the frame again.
Zak Crawley
Age: 23
Tests: 15, Ashes Tests: 0
Playing role: Right-handed batter
Test batting average: 28.34, Ashes batting average: N/A
A knock of 267 against Pakistan in 2020 is proof of his talent, but has failed to nail down a spot at the top of the order.
Dan Lawrence
Age: 24
Tests: 8, Ashes Tests: 0
Playing role: Right-handed batter
Test batting average: 27.23, Ashes batting average: N/A
One of several first-time Ashes tourists seeking to make their mark with the bat. Scored a hundred at the MCG against Australia A during a 2020 tour with England’s second XI.
Ollie Pope
Age: 23
Tests: 20, Ashes Tests: 0
Playing role: Right-handed batter
Test batting average: 32.16, Ashes batting average: N/A
Scored 274 for Surrey in his final innings of the English season. A knock of 81 against India in this year’s fourth Test should also be a source of confidence for the youngster.
Chris Woakes
Age: 32
Tests: 39, Ashes Tests: 9
Playing role: Right-arm fast-medium
Test bowling average: 28.73, Ashes bowling average: 43.9
One of several quicks jostling for a spot in England’s Test attack. Managed to dismiss Steve Smith more than any other teammate in the 2019 Ashes.
Mark Wood
Age: 31
Tests: 21, Ashes Tests: 4
Playing role: Right-arm fast
Test bowling average: 33.1, Ashes bowling average: 39.1
Injuries have been a near-constant concern for the quirky quick with an imaginary horse. If fully fit and firing, the 2015 Ashes winner will offer a point of difference to an attack missing fellow express pacemen Jofra Archer and Olly Stone.
Craig Overton
Age: 27
Tests: 6, Ashes Tests: 3
Playing role: Right-arm medium-fast
Test bowling average: 33.58, Ashes bowling average: 41.62
Adopted a combative approach on debut at Adelaide Oval in 2017. May struggle to break into England’s first-choice attack unless there are some injuries.
