Jake Weatherald and Brendan Doggett will make their Test debuts in Friday’s first Ashes Test in Perth, with Australia’s XI all but locked in 24 hours out from the first ball.
The team is yet to be confirmed, but according to The Age, players were informed of the make-up of the team ahead of Thursday’s final training session.
However, the two inclusions mean all-rounder Beau Webster will be overlooked despite a strong start to his Test career in seven matches in 2025, with Cameron Green to be the sole all-rounder.
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31-year old Weatherald has been expected to debut since a flying start to the Sheffield Shield season saw him vault into the 15-man preliminary squad for the first Test as one of only two specialist opening batters.
The Tasmanian, who reignited his first-class career after moving from South Australia two seasons ago, will be Usman Khawaja’s sixth different opening partner since David Warner’s retirement in January 2024.
Doggett, meanwhile, was initially named in the squad after throwing his name into the ring with a superb 2024/25 Sheffield Shield summer for adopted state South Australia, culminating in being named player of the final in the Redbacks’ first title in 29 years.
He emerged as a likely third seamer in the XI after incumbent Josh Hazlewood’s hamstring injury for NSW saw him join captain Pat Cummins (back) on the sidelines, with fellow squad member Sean Abbott also succumbing to injury.
Speaking to media to confirm the final XI, captain Steve Smith said it was ‘extremely exciting’ to welcome Weatherald and Doggett to the team.
“Injuries happen in sport, particularly in cricket with fast bowlers, they put a lot of stress through their bodies,” he said.
“[It’s] unfortunate that those two are out, but an exciting opportunity for Scotty [Boland] and Brendan Doggett.
“Brendan’s been on a few tours with Australia, he is very skilful, I think he’s improved a hell of a lot the past few years, and I’m excited to see him go about his business.”
Smith said he had been impressed by Weatherald’s approach to batting in difficult net conditions in Perth, praising his years of consistent Sheffield Shield run-making for giving him an opportunity at the top level.
“I watched him bat in the nets pretty closely the last few days – they were pretty tricky nets, fast, bouncy and a lot of seam. He’s got a lot of courage, he just goes in there,” he said.
“I don’t think he faces any of the sidearms or anything – he wants to face bowlers the entire time. The guys were charging in, bowling fast, so he took it on, he was getting in really good positions.
“He goes about it a certain way. He’s been selected for his performances over the last 18 months in particular, he’s batted exceptionally well up the top of the order for Tasmania. Hopefully he can bring that to the Test arena.
“I’m really excited for him, he’s worked hard for a long period of time, and I think he’s going to complement Uzzy pretty well up top.”
Jake Weatherald. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)
As expected, Marnus Labuschagne’s dominant start to the summer across all formats will see him return to his customary No.3 spot, with Green moving back to No.6 after returning to the Test team at first drop for June’s World Test Championship final, and then in the subsequent series in the West Indies.
Smith said Webster, who averaged 34.63 with the bat and 23.25 with the ball across seven Tests in 2025 after making his debut in the decisive fifth Test of last summer’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was unlucky to miss out.
However, he cited the return of Labuschagne as the reason for the Tasmanian’s omission, rather than in a head-to-head battle for the all-rounder spot with Green, the only player in Australia’s squad under 30 years of age.
“It’s a really tough one on him [Webster], but I think Marnus when he’s batting at his best at No.3 makes us a very, very good cricket side,” Smith said.
“We couldn’t really leave him out after he came back and did exactly what was told of him, the way he’s batted in Shield cricket and one-day cricket for Queensland in the last couple of weeks has been amazing.
“For Beau, he’s the one that misses out, unfortunately.”
Smith will also fill in for Cummins as captain, the seventh time he has done so since the fast bowler replaced Tim Paine in the top job leading into the 2021/22 Ashes series.
While his captaincy record will be forever marred by presiding over the ‘Sandpapergate’ ball-tampering scandal in 2018 that saw him stripped of the captaincy and suspended alongside David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, the 36-year old said he is ‘a lot more relaxed’ as captain nowadays.
“I’m pretty chilled, I think I’ve learned a lot over my journey,” he said.
“The couple of times I’ve stood in for Patty, I’ve tried to be pretty relaxed and let the game play. Obviously, I’ve got to do it my own way out there, have my own style, but I’m a lot more relaxed these days.”
Smith had a savage response to former England Test spinner Monty Panesar urging the tourists to make him feel ‘guilty’ about the incident in Cape Town seven years ago, taking aim at Panesar’s infamously comic appearance on UK quiz show Mastermind several years ago in which he blundered several easy questions.
“Who of you in the room have seen Mastermind, and Monty Panesar on that?” Smith laughed.
“Those of you who have, you’ll understand where I’m coming from … anyone that believes that Athens is in Germany, that’s a start, Oliver Twist is a season of the year and America is a city, doesn’t really bother me.”
England named a 12-man reduced squad for the first Test earlier in the week, with the only expected call to be made on whether to pick spinner Shoaib Bashir or include seamer Brydon Carse in a four-man pace attack for an expected fast Optus Stadium pitch.
Captain Ben Stokes was coy when discussing the make-up of his final XI at England’s press conference.
Australia’s first Ashes Test XI
Usman Khawaja, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett.