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No Sam Konstas; Boland, Labuschagne in as Steve Smith to captain Australia in The Ashes

Soumyajit Dutta

Steve Smith and Travis Head [Source: @thecricketgully/X.com]Steve Smith and Travis Head [Source: @thecricketgully/X.com]

In a recent development, Cricket Australia announced a 15-member Ashes Test squad against England on November 5. The strong yet decently balanced squad sees Steve Smith captain the side in the absence of Pat Cummins, with notable inclusions and exclusions as well.

In an almost 'no-brainer' move, Sam Konstas have been dropped from the squad and Jake Weatherald was handed his maiden international call-up for the Ashes Test.

No place for Konstas as new face gets the cap

Sam Konstas haven't been at his very best in the ongoing Sheffield Shield with poor numbers of 0, 20 and 10 on his stat card. Chief selector George Bailey elaborated that bringing in Jake was a better choice, and Konstas was 'incredibly upbeat' about it.

"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 as complicated as we try and make cricket, really it's about runs," Bailey said.

Notably, Weatherald earned his place after bagging 1391 runs at 53.50, striking at 68.65 and opening the batting for Tasmania and Australia A in the last few months.

Labuschagne, Cam Green find place in the squad

With no say whatsoever on the batting order or Playing XI for the Tests yet, Marnus Labuschagne returns to the Ashes setup even after being dropped from the West Indies Tests earlier this year, thanks to his recent purple patch performances for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield. 

Besides Labuschagne, veteran Usman Khwaja have also been named in the squad alongside all-rounders Cameron Green and Beau Webster.

Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, and Nathan Lyon have also been named as a setup for the four-man attack. Notably, Lyon was included in the squad after being left out in Jamaica for the Australia Tests by selectors.

Brendan Doggett and Sean Abbott have been included in the squad as the reserve fast bowlers. Doggett was in fine touch with the ball in first-class cricket and returned after exiting from the West Indies tour due to a hip injury.

Australia squad for first Test against England

Steven Smith (capt), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster