David Warner, veteran opener of Australia, has been retained in the squad for the start of the Ashes series in England and is still in contention for the World Test Championship final against India. When the 36-year-old left-hander was hurt during Australia’s last tour to India, he missed the majority of the Test series before returning for the limited-overs matches, speculation about his future in cricket’s longest format grew. Warner and two other candidates for opening the batting, Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw, were named to the 17-man squad revealed Wednesday for the start of the five-Test Ashes series.
Warner’s bad performance in India
Cricket Australia announced on May 28 that it would reduce its roster to 15 for the World Test Championship final, which begins on June 7 at the Oval in London. Warner scored 26 runs in three innings in India, with a high of 15, before being ruled out with a concussion and an injured elbow.
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Your 17-strong squad ready for a massive few months abroad 💪 pic.twitter.com/yjrSdG9kyn
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) April 19, 2023
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He has 25 career centuries and 8,158 runs at an average of over 46 in 103 Test matches, but only five of those hundreds have come in away matches, and he has never reached triple figures in an Ashes contest played in England. Todd Murphy was retained as Nathan Lyon’s backup spin option after making his Test debut in India, and Mitch Marsh was returned to the Test team for the first time since 2019 as a backup to allrounder Cameron Green.
Pat Cummins to lead
Pat Cummins will return as captain, leading a bowling attack that includes only three specialist pacemen: Mitch Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Scott Boland. Cricket Australia selection George Bailey stated that the visit to the United Kingdom “is a very different assignment than our most recent tour to India, and some of the changes are based on the conditions we anticipate.”
The lineup that travelled India did not include batter Peter Handscomb and spinners Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson, and Matt Kuhnemann. Lance Morris, a fast bowler, was ruled out of the squad due to injury. The Ashes begin on June 16 in Birmingham, with selectors noting that team changes may be made based on performance in the first two matches of the series.
Australia squad for Ashes 2023
Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner.
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