New Delhi: Australia captain Pat Cummins has revealed Australia’s playing XI for the upcoming ICC World Test Championship at Lord’s. Cummins spoke to the media in London on Tuesday and revealed that the XI that the reigning World Test Championship winners will field is exactly what Australian legend Ricky Ponting predicted on ‘The ICC Review’ last month.
Cummins explained the reasons why the selectors chose Marnus Labuschagne to open and decided to keep young Sam Constas out of the playing XI. Cummins said, “With Marnus moving up, we thought it was actually a place up. It’s not too different from batting at number three.”
Cummins further said, “Marnus has experience, he has done well at Lord’s and in England in general.” He explained that “Opening batting can be difficult, but sometimes it can also be the best time to bat before the Dukes ball swings. There’s an opportunity to score runs there, so I think keeping that ball under control will mean something.”
Cummins’ opinion on leaving out Sam Constas
Cummins said that he was disappointed with Constas’s exclusion, but he believes that the 19-year-old has a bright future with the team. Cummins said, “Realistically, he’s very young, he has a very long career ahead of him.” He hoped that, “So hopefully, even if he’s not playing, we can show him opportunities to learn.”
Decision on choosing Hazelwood instead of Scott Boland
Cummins also spoke in detail about the decision to leave Boland out of the XI and choose Hazelwood. The captain said, “There are some players about whom you usually say you have done nothing wrong, don’t change anything, and that’s Scott and he is just very unfortunate to be out.”
Cummins further said, “The message to Scott is that there are a lot of Test matches coming up in the next few years, and just because you are in your mid-thirties, it does not mean that you are leaving this Test match and this is the last Test match of your career.” He told, “I think by having a squad of fast bowlers, hopefully we can extend many careers for an extra few years.”
Australia’s playing XI is as follows:
Usman Khawaja
Marnus Labuschagne
Cameron Green
Steve Smith
Travis Head
Beau Webster
Alex Carey (wicketkeeper)
Pat Cummins (captain)
Mitchell Starc
Nathan Lyon
Josh Hazlewood
