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MELBOURNE :Young opener Sam Konstas has been dropped from Australia's squad for the Ashes, opening the door for uncapped Jake Weatherald to make a test debut in the five-match series against England.
Konstas, 20, misses out after a poor tour with the bat in the West Indies, while Weatherald has been included after topping the Sheffield Shield runs list in 2024/25 and starting the new season with three half-centuries.
Top-order batter Marnus Labuschagne was recalled in the 15-man squad after starting the domestic season with five centuries in a major return to form.
SELECTORS WANT A BOWLING GREEN
Finding a long-term replacement for opener David Warner has been a vexed question for selectors, and chairman George Bailey said on Wednesday they wanted more data from domestic matches before settling on a starting 11 and a batting order.
Much will depend on whether all-rounder Cameron Green can prove his fitness to bowl by delivering a decent spell in the next Shield round.
Green has barely bowled since coming back from spinal surgery and was selected solely as a batting number three during the West Indies tour.
Selectors would prefer a bowling Green at number six in the order, which would likely push out all-rounder Beau Webster.
"It'd be great to see (him bowling), because that's his skill set, isn't it? So if someone's an all-rounder, you want them to be able to, in an ideal world, be capable of performing their skills," Bailey told reporters on the Gold Coast.
If Green is unable to bowl he may stay at number three, which could push Labuschagne up the order to open with Usman Khawaja and deny Tasmania opener Weatherald a spot.
There was no place for Mitchell Marsh despite the all-rounder's good form in white-ball cricket and a recent endorsement from coach and selector Andrew McDonald.
Steve Smith will captain the side for at least the first test in Perth, starting on November 21, due to Pat Cummins's back injury.
Bailey said Cummins would "hopefully" be available for the second test, which starts on December 4 in Brisbane, and would travel to Perth to Perth to provide another leadership figure for the squad.
"It's a calmness, it's an ability to keep the group together, for Steve to bounce ideas off and I guess to have that golden thread, or that continuity, through the series you're after," he added.
Regular stand-in man Scott Boland is in line to bowl in Perth along with stalwart quicks Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, while Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett are the reserve pacers.
Bailey said he felt for Konstas, who has been in the spotlight since scoring 60 on his debut against India in the Boxing Day test in Melbourne last year.
However, he was on shaky ground after managing only 163 runs in his first five tests at an average of 16.30, and was unable to mount a convincing case for his retention in domestic cricket.
Weatherald, a 31-year-old opener with a modest first-class average of 37.63, had been seen in a two-way race with 14-test opener Matt Renshaw to replace Konstas.
Renshaw started the domestic season with a century and earned a one-day international debut against India but Weatherald's weight of runs over the last two seasons ultimately told.
Australia squad: Steve Smith (capt), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey, Jake Weatherald, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett.
