Australia confirm Doggett, Weatherald debuts; Webster misses out

Australia confirm Doggett, Weatherald debuts; Webster misses out

Australia have confirmed their XI for the Ashes opener in Perth, handing Test debuts to Jake Weatherald and Brendan Doggett while leaving out Beau Webster in the final squeeze for balance.

Weatherald, 31, is set to become Usman Khawaja's seventh different opening partner since the veteran's comeback in 2022. Doggett, also 31, comes in as the third quick alongside Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland, rewarded for seasons of steady improvement and thrust into a major role with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood unavailable for the opening Test.

The toughest call came in the middle order, where Cameron Green's return as the all-round option meant Webster—impressive in his early international outings—was omitted. The 30-year-old had been in contention to start, especially on a surface that can reward his seam-bowling and added height, but Australia opted for a more traditional structure with Green at No.6.

"For Beau, he's the one that misses out unfortunately," stand-in captain Steve Smith said on the eve of the Test. "He came into international cricket and lit it up immediately. It's a really tough one on him."

A key feature of the XI is Marnus Labuschagne moving back to his preferred No.3 slot after forcing his comeback to the side with a string of five centuries since the start of the domestic season.

"Marnus, when he's batting at his best at number three, he makes us a 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 and one-day cricket for Queensland in the last couple of weeks has been amazing, so when he's batting well, he's tough to leave out and hopefully he can bring that to the Test arena now."

Australia's XI: Usman Khawaja, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Brendan Doggett, Scott Boland.