West Australian.<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cWhen your leaders are all in their mid-to-late 30s and have heavy workloads banked, the odds eventually turn on you.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile losing captain Pat Cummins to injury was already a blow, one injury to a frontline quick is manageable. Losing two out of the big three starts to rewrite the whole script for the Ashes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt narrows Australia\u2019s margin for error, and it forces selectors into decisions they\u2019d hoped they wouldn\u2019t have to make this early in the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson also called on Australian selectors to make the big calls and hand a pair of Test hopefuls their debuts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe loss of Hazlewood even raises the question of how the selectors think about the top order,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still believe Jake Weatherald should be given the opportunity to debut and open the batting. He\u2019s earned it. But losing another senior bowler might cause a rethink. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, you go brave. Pick the form opener. Back the next quick who deserves the shot. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut this is exactly the moment Australia didn\u2019t want, and now we get to see how bold they really are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aussies land in Perth ahead of test | 00:34<\/p>\n
PM\u2019S XI ANNOUNCED<\/p>\n
Australia has unveiled its team for this month\u2019s Prime Minister\u2019s XI match against an England XI in Canberra, with discarded Test opener Sam Konstas headlining the 13-player squad.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister\u2019s XI will play a two-day, pink-ball contest against the English at Manuka Oval from November 29, helping the tourists prepare for the following week\u2019s day-night Ashes Test at the Gabba.<\/p>\n
Konstas, who missed selection for the Ashes, has been named in the squad alongside fellow young guns Oliver Peake, Charlie Anderson and Hugh Weibgen, while former Test quick Peter Siddle has also earned a surprise call-up.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister\u2019s XI will be led by Victorian veteran Peter Handscomb, while South Australian captain Nathan McSweeney has also been named. Former Australian Test wicketkeeper Tim Paine will coach the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Prime Minister\u2019s XI is a proud tradition in Australian cricket, and I\u2019m thrilled to confirm the squad to face the England XI later this month,\u201d Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who helped pick the team, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team showcases the depth of talent in our domestic cricket system, and I\u2019m particularly excited to see some of our emerging stars earn this opportunity. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic stage for players to test themselves against international opposition and for fans to enjoy top-quality pink-ball cricket in Canberra. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am also looking forward to the Ashes commencing in Perth from 21 November, it\u2019s the oldest rivalry in world cricket – Australia and England in an Ashes Series always means something extra.\u201d<\/p>\n
Full squad:<\/p>\n
Peter Handscomb (VIC\/St Kilda CC) (c) <\/p>\n
Benji Floros (ACT\/QLD\/Valley District CC) <\/p>\n
Campbell Kellaway (VIC\/Melbourne CC) <\/p>\n
Campbell Thompson (SA\/East Torrens CC) <\/p>\n
Charlie Anderson (NSW\/Northern District CC) <\/p>\n
Doug Warren (VIC\/Melbourne University CC) <\/p>\n
Hugh Weibgen (QLD\/Valley District Cricket Club) <\/p>\n
Joel Curtis (WA\/Perth CC) <\/p>\n
Nathan McSweeney (SA\/Glenelg CC) <\/p>\n
Oliver Peake (VIC\/Geelong CC) <\/p>\n
Peter Siddle (Dandenong CC) <\/p>\n
Sam Konstas (NSW\/Sutherland CC) <\/p>\n
Sam Skelly (ACT\/QLD\/Northern Suburbs CC) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former England stars continue to line-up to predict Australian woe this summer after Josh Hazlewood joined Pat Cummins…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2620,9199,18761,2324,11638,1724,64,63,689,7292,35086,44210,56117,167523,122618,56263,167526,101243,60165,18762,167532,2667,47901,89804,163550,167520,167524,1208,2057,125000,12548,653,4517,81408,24270,1209,167533,44226,138790,44227,154355,64787,167522,17055,19912,31024,160485,29547,18779,673,44,3583,677,89826,139072,1948,46,132500,160474,167519,167525,22297,167531,701,167521,17069,167535,1934,167530,167528,38704,167518,12540,1210,18784,670,167527,5338,167529,167516,167534,167517,70541,3439],"class_list":["post-291311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-alarm-bells","tag-alex-carey","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-ashes-series","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-capital-territory","tag-australian-cricket","tag-australian-cricket-legend","tag-australian-cricket-team","tag-australian-seam-attack","tag-australian-selectors","tag-australian-team","tag-australian-woe","tag-bowling-attack","tag-brendan-doggett","tag-cameron-green","tag-campbell-thompson","tag-canberra","tag-casualty-ward","tag-charlie-anderson","tag-chris-rogers","tag-domestic-cricket-system","tag-doug-warren","tag-england","tag-europe","tag-fergus-oneill","tag-fox-cricket","tag-fox-sports-news","tag-hamstring-injury","tag-head-coaching-role","tag-home-side","tag-india","tag-isaac-mcdonald","tag-jake-weatherald","tag-jason-gillespie","tag-josh-hazlewood","tag-justin-edwards","tag-melbourne-university","tag-mens-players","tag-michael-vaughan","tag-mitchell-johnson","tag-mitchell-starc","tag-monty-panesar","tag-nathan-lyon","tag-nathan-mcsweeney","tag-new-south-wales","tag-news","tag-northern-europe","tag-oceania","tag-oliver-peake","tag-pace-bowlers","tag-pat-cummins","tag-perth","tag-peter-handscomb","tag-peter-siddle","tag-pin-drop","tag-positive-vibes","tag-practice-session","tag-quality-opening-partner","tag-queensland","tag-representative-teams","tag-sam-konstas","tag-sam-skelly","tag-scott-boland","tag-senior-bowler","tag-series-draw","tag-series-win","tag-shoaib-bashir","tag-southern-asia","tag-sri-lanka","tag-steven-smith","tag-sydney","tag-team-showcases","tag-the-gabba","tag-the-man-a-statue","tag-tim-paine","tag-time-checking","tag-top-quality-pink-ball-cricket","tag-usman-khawaja","tag-western-australia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763321169_134_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n