It is as if the Australia selectors picked their squad with a plan to please Jofra Archer by ignoring his potency against left-handers.
Jake Weatherald, 31, has been called up and is likely to bat with 38-year-old Usman Khawaja. It throws an untested opening partnership into the mix. It also pairs two left-handers against the new ball and that means Archer when he is at his freshest.
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He has taken 21 of his 51 Test wickets at 22 against left-handers despite only bowling 30 per cent of his deliveries at lefties. His record against right-handers is ordinary: 30 wickets at 34.43. Archer dismissed David Warner and Marcus Harris – two left-handers – five times in the 2019 Ashes and removed Yashasvi Jaiswal twice at Lord’s this year. Jaiswal’s hundreds last summer all came in Tests when Archer was not playing.
It is quite a contrast. In fact, six of Australia’s XI in Perth could be left-handers, including Travis Head at No 5 and Alex Carey at No 7.
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Most of the focus with Archer is on his pace, but he is skilful, too, and able to nip the ball both ways off the seam without a notable change in action. He bowls a tight wicket-to-wicket line and squares up left-handers: his five comeback wickets in the India Lord’s Test in June were all left-handers.
Pitches in Australia have changed significantly in recent years and the extra plastic stitching on the Kookaburra ball has given it more life, too. This has been to the benefit of Australia’s fast-bowling greats Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, but it has undermined their batsmen, which is why their selectors are taking a dart on Weatherald, who averages 37.6 in first-class cricket.
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It could all change if Cameron Green fails to recover enough to play his part as an all-rounder. In that scenario, Marnus Labuschagne will open with Khawaja and Green bat three. Australia would then only have one left-hander in the top four, possibly a more solid and sensible move if Archer is fit and ready for the first Test, which appears certain at the moment.
Dissecting Australia’s ‘Dad’s Army’ Ashes squad
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Marnus Labuschagne is in line for a prompt return to Australia’s XI after his red-hot form won a recall to the squad for the first Ashes Test in Perth later this month alongside the uncapped opener Jake Weatherald.
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So with their captain Pat Cummins injured, Australia have named a 15-man squad for the series opener, with Steve Smith leading the team.
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And yet there is plenty to get into with this Australian squad. Here are the key talking points:
Dad’s Army: safe, seasoned, and unsurprising
Even with three uncapped players in Australia’s squad, this is a familiar group of players. There were no shocks, gambles, or “smokies”, as the locals might say.
Australia picked an enormous squad of 17 before the doomed 2010-11 Ashes campaign, and this group of 15 is not far off that. Indeed, England only have 16 players with them for the entire tour. Australia have all bases covered, and the biggest decisions are yet to be made.
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It is likely that only one place in the XI will go to a player (Weatherald or Beau Webster) who has not played Ashes cricket before, and the first thing that stands out is the age of the squad. There is just one player, 26-year-old Cameron Green, who is in his 20s, while seven are north of 34, including the entire first-choice attack.
At a time when many are labelling Australia “Dad’s Army”, former captain Steve Waugh criticised the age profile of the team, saying selector George Bailey did not have the “appetite” to regenerate the side.
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“We’re aware of the age profile of the team,” said Bailey. “I’m interested when people have that view as to who they would like us to leave out. Is that Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc out? Is that just because of their age? You’ve got to give due respect that the guys are performing very well and they have the right to be selected.”
Only three members of England’s touring party are older than 31.
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Irresistible Marnus, unselectable Konstas
The selectors had no choice but to recall Labuschagne, who was dropped from the XI in the Caribbean earlier this year. Labuschagne is a former No 1-ranked batsman whose dogged defence and quirky mannerisms make him a nightmare to bowl at when on form. And, with five hundreds in eight innings this domestic season, he is certainly in form.
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Bailey was asked on Wednesday whether Labuschagne could open and said “yes”.
“I’m confident that most players in Australia, if you bat in the top three you have the capability of opening,” Bailey said. “You know what Marn’s like, as soon as he was left out of that West Indies team, his first question was, ‘How many runs do you need for me to come back?’”
“Our message was the runs would be a by-product of some of the other things we wanted to see. Some of that was, not getting back to the old Marn, but a method and a way of batting, some technical things that we wanted to see.
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“Pretty early in the season it was pretty evident that he had made some nice adjustments and was in a good place.”
The opposite was true of Sam Konstas, who burst on to the scene by ramping Jasprit Bumrah on Boxing Day, but has faded horribly since.
He was all over the shop in the West Indies, and has been found out again early in the Sheffield Shield season. For the second time this year, he had to be taken out of the line of fire, but do not expect the attention on him to drop. “I feel for Sammy,” said Bailey. “I feel like at the moment, if he farts, it’s a headline.”
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Green the key
Green has been working his way back from a stress fracture of the back, and recently struggled with a side issue. He played the most recent Sheffield Shield round as a specialist batsman, but if he can prove his fitness to bowl, Australia will be able to make their final decisions on their XI.
Cameron Green’s ability to bowl after a stress fracture of the back will influence Australia’s XI for the first Test – Getty Images/Robert Cianflone
If Green bowls extensively, it is likely that he bats No 6 and Webster – who has done nothing wrong in the early part of his Test career – is dropped. That would mean Weatherald opens and Labuschagne slots in at his favoured No 3. If he cannot bowl, Webster would be retained, and Green would remain at first drop with Labuschagne opening.
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Shield focus
England have made no secret of the fact they are only taking a cursory glance at the County Championship averages when selecting the Test squad these days. Australia, it seems, are a bit different. Their media has been obsessed with the “Great Australian Bat Off” in the early part of their summer, as pretenders pushed to open alongside Usman Khawaja. In the end, they have plumped for the red-hot Labuschagne and Weatherald, the most consistent Shield opener since the start of last season.
Usman Khawaja still does not know who his opening partner will be – AP /Kirsty Wigglesworth
Indeed, final decisions will be made on the XI during a star-studded Shield round in which every member of the squad bar 38-year-old Khawaja, who has an adductor strain, will play.
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Who are the new faces?
Weatherald is a 31-year-old journeyman from Darwin who has made his way to Tasmania via South Australia. A left-handed opener, he scores quickly, which would belatedly help plug the gap left by David Warner. He beat Matt Renshaw and Konstas to the opener’s spot.
“He scores at four runs an over and has some attacking strengths without being cavalier,” said Bailey. “A lot of discussion was centred around the method and the way we’d like that player to play. How they play naturally and then how we feel like that might complement other players that are potentially around them.”
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The other two, Sean Abbott (33) and Brendan Doggett (31) are more familiar. Abbott is a stalwart for New South Wales, Surrey and a regular in Australia’s white-ball side as a medium-fast all-rounder, while Doggett is a yard or two quicker. Both men have made Test squads before without being capped. Australia’s pace bowling depth, beyond the obvious names, has rarely been tested. Scott Boland is in line to bowl in Perth along with regular fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
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