Doggett and Weatherald to get Australia debuts in Perth Test with Khawaja having his sixth opener partner since Warner’s retirement.
Doggett and Weatherald handed debuts in first Ashes Test.
Beau Webster will not be in the starting lineup for Australia’s first Ashes Test at Perth Stadium; instead, Jake Weatherald and Brendan Doggett will make their debuts.
A crucial last piece to the puzzle had been Cameron Green’s triumphant return to bowling. The absence of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins had raised the possibility that the selectors might still think about using more bowling resources, but Green has endorsed four front-line alternatives.
After a successful start to the season with Queensland, Marnus Labuschagne will return to the team in his preferred No. 3 spot. Nathan Lyon, who was left out of Australia’s all-pace attack in the day-night Test in Jamaica, is also called up.
Australia will award two new caps in the same Test for the first time since 2019, when Kurtis Patterson and Jhye Richardson made their debuts against Sri Lanka at the Gabba. It will also be the first time in an Ashes match since Usman Khawaja and Michael Beer made their debuts at the SCG in the 2010–11 series.
With Doggett’s debut, Australia will field two Indigenous players in a Test XI for the first time, filling in for the injured Hazlewood. After recovering from a hamstring injury earlier in the season, Doggett, 31, has been in outstanding form for South Australia, taking 13 wickets at 14.69.
Since David Warner’s retirement in early 2024, Weatherald has become Khawaja’s sixth opening partner. Weatherald took another hit during Australia’s last optional training session on Thursday morning after doing some visualisation and shadow hitting in the middle of Perth Stadium.