The Ashes 2021-22: Pat Cummins Confirms Australia's Playing XI For Gabba Test

Australia’s newly-appointed Test skipper Pat Cummins has revealed their playing XI for the first Ashes Test against England at the Gabba.

The team is quite similar to the one they played in their last Test match against India at the same venue. Travis Head and Marcus Harris have retained their spots after an excellent showing in the Shield games.

Under-fire pacer, Mitchell Starc, will also be featured in the starting XI despite his average returns with the ball of late in the longest format. Alex Carey will don the gloves behind the stumps in the absence of the ex-skipper, Tim Paine.

Speaking about the preparation ahead of the Ashes, head coach Justin Langer said: “(Their preparation) has been excellent. 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,” he added.

Australia’s playing XI:

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

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