Australia XI for World Test Championship final

Australia named a powerful 17-player touring party for the World Test Championship final at The Oval and start of their Ashes campaign, with their standout performers in the current WTC cycle all available.

From the outside, seven members of the team look assured of a spot in the final, with Usman Khawaja (1608 runs), Marnus Labuschagne (1509), Steve Smith (1252), Travis Head (1208), as well as Nathan Lyon (83 wickets), Pat Cummins (53) and Mitchell Starc (51), all but set to appear after their recent WTC efforts.

Each of the in-form Australians are also ranked among the top seven run-scorers or wicket-takers in the current WTC cycle with just one match remaining, and loom as pivotal to their team’s hopes of a maiden WTC title.

The other regulars in the side that topped the WTC standings ahead of India have also been included in the touring party, for what mostly seems a settled outfit. In spite of this, several selections and spots raise as many questions as they answer in a squad that needs to cover multiple form and fitness concerns.

David Warner returns to the red-ball set up after being forced out of the Test series in India early due to an elbow injury, but will need to hold off Marcus Harris and Matthew Renshaw to earn a place in the WTC final.

The veteran opener has shown signs in the shorter formats that he is on the brink of rediscovering his best form, yet it is increasingly hard to ignore that he has reached three figures just once since the start of 2021.

Warner’s average of 9.5 in 10 innings the last time Australia played Tests in England conditions in 2019 will also be on the selectors’ minds, but fellow left-handers Harris and Renshaw have failed to do enough with their opportunities to force an unlikely change.

Harris had similar troubles against England four years ago as he averaged 9.66 from three Tests, while Renshaw made only four runs in three innings in vastly different conditions in India earlier this year.

Cameron Green can be locked into the all-rounder position especially after his last three Tests included a breakthrough century in India, as well as an unbeaten fifty and a five-for against South Africa.

White-ball specialist Mitchell Marsh has surged back into the squad and has a proven record of performing on the biggest stages in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 final, but it would be a bold selection to unseat Green to play in a first Test since the Ashes in 2019.

Wicketkeeper Alex Carey also struggled in India with 56 runs from six Test innings but is at little risk of being displaced by Josh Inglis when the same teams meet again on neutral ground.

Arguably the toughest call will be to decide the third pacer alongside captain Cummins and Starc, with two more-than-capable contenders named in the touring party.

Scott Boland has barely put a foot wrong since his shock Australia debut to claim 28 scalps in seven Tests at the measly average of 13.42, while Josh Hazlewood has the experience of 59 Tests and 222 wickets on his side.

Hazlewood has also played eight Tests in England for 36 wickets and seems to relish the conditions, but the 32-year-old is in a race against time to prove his fitness after a frustrating run of injuries that include an Achilles issue that sidelined him from all four Tests in India.

Australia will name their official 15-player squad for the ICC World Test Championship final on May 28, with the starting XI set to be unveiled when the match starts on June 7.

David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (vc), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland