Cummins reveals first Test XI

New Australia captain Pat Cummins has confirmed the XI he will take into the opening Vodafone Men's Ashes Test match, with Travis Head winning the race to bat at No.5, while Mitch Starc holds his place in the bowling attack.

The announcement came at the official launch of the Test series, as players huddled around the crystal replica trophy. 

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Australia XI: Marcus Harris, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

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Cummins said it was a "tight one" between Head and Queensland captain Usman Khawaja to bat in the middle order, but Head's position as the more recent Test representative for the Aussies gave him the edge over the 34-year-old Khawaja, who will turn 35 later this month, and is eight years older than the South Australian. 

"It was a tight one. Both really good options, really strong form," said Cummins.

Image Id: EA06F82F4B3B44C7A767439CBF7790B4 Image Caption: The official Ashes series launch at the Gabba // Getty

"Experience is great from Uzzie and we feel really lucky to have that in the squad, but Trav’s been playing a lot for us the last couple of years.

"He’s gone away and he’s churned out runs in England, here in Australia, and we feel like he’s really ready to go."

The public endorsement of the side still three days out from the coin toss on Wednesday morning follows the trend set by national selector George Bailey, who publicly endorsed Victorian Marcus Harris as opener in early November. 

Harris has since credited that with allowing him to focus on the task rather than worrying about selection issues, saying: "It was just good to have some clear communication with a selector about what I was doing, what was in their minds and what was in their thinking for me. I think it's good for your confidence as a player to know where you stand and having the backing of (selectors) is really good."

While Cummins was happy to confirm a side, England skipper Joe Root declined to follow suit, but said spinner Jack Leach remained in contention to play.

"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."

Australia's selectors have kept the faith with the 'Big Three' combination of Cummins, Starc and Josh Hazlewood that has collected a combined 631 Test wickets.

Starc had been in doubt to hold his spot, especially with Jhye Richardson, who had taken 15 wickets in his past two Sheffield Shield matches – including eight at the Gabba last month – bowling with accuracy and searing pace.

Cummins said Starc and Hazlewood were likely to still take the new ball, with the new captain keeping himself in reserve for first change.

On Saturday Australia head coach Justin Langer gave a strong endorsement of the incumbent pace trio's preparation, despite the wet Brisbane weather in the lead-up.

"(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.

"They've had three or four centre-wicket sessions, and you saw how the boys bowled (Saturday) – they're up and about, and they're very confident after the World Cup, and with the experience of their careers. So I'm happy with the way they're going." 

Vodafone Men's Ashes

Squads

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

England: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Schedule

First Test: December 8-12, The Gabba

Second Test: December 16-20, Adelaide Oval

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, Perth Stadium