Australia captain Pat Cummins has named a bold and slightly reshuffled playing XI for the ICC World Test Championship Final at Lord’s, with Marnus Labuschagne set to open the innings and Josh Hazlewood edging out Scott Boland in the pace attack.Labuschagne, usually a steadfast No.3, will walk out with Usman Khawaja at the top, while teenager Sam Konstas misses out. It’s a role change Cummins believes suits the team’s needs and Labuschagne’s strengths.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“With Marnus moving, we thought it’s one spot up really. It’s not too different to batting three,” Cummins explained. “He has experience, he has done well here at Lord’s and in England in general.”Who’s that IPL player?While acknowledging the challenges of opening with the Dukes ball in English conditions, Cummins highlighted the potential rewards: “Opening the batting can be tough, but it can also be sometimes the best time to bat, before the ball actually starts swinging. There’s an opportunity to score there.”
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On leaving out 19-year-old Konstas, who has impressed in his early outings, Cummins said: “Realistically, he’s really young, he’s got a long career ahead of him. So hopefully, even by not playing, we can show him there are learning opportunities.”A tougher call came in the pace department. Despite Boland’s proven success in England, Hazlewood was preferred to join Cummins and Mitchell Starc in the pace trio.
“There are some guys where you say you’ve done nothing wrong, don’t change a thing — and that’s Scott,” Cummins admitted. “He’s just really unfortunate to miss out. The message to Scott is this isn’t the end. There’s a lot of Test cricket coming up, and age shouldn’t define selection. Hopefully by rotating our fast bowlers, we can prolong all of our careers.”The rest of the XI sees Cameron Green return for his first Test since back surgery, while Beau Webster retains his spot, providing seam and spin support in the all-rounder’s role.
Australia XI for WTC Final
Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
