Australia will field two new faces in the opening Ashes Test in Perth as stand-in skipper Steve Smith confirmed that Jake Weatherald and Brendan Doggett will receive their Baggy Greens. The match begins on Friday and marks a rare moment for Australia, who last handed out multiple Test debuts in 2019. Smith said the selection group felt confident about the pair. “Doggett and Weatherald are going to make their debuts, which is really exciting,” he announced on Thursday. Weatherald joins Usman Khawaja at the top, becoming the sixth partner tried since David Warner’s retirement. His arrival at the top allows an in-form Marnus Labuschagne to reclaim his preferred number three slot after storming back into contention with five centuries in eight innings this season. Labuschagne’s return pushes Cameron Green to number six, with Travis Head at five and Smith himself at four. Green won the race for the all-rounder role ahead of Beau Webster. Doggett’s debut comes after Josh Hazlewood was sidelined with a hamstring strain. With Pat Cummins also unavailable as he recovers from a back problem, Scott Boland steps in to partner Doggett and Mitchell Starc. Nathan Lyon will play his 140th Test and needs two wickets to move past Glenn McGrath on the all-time chart. Lyon has been typically strong at home with 268 of his 562 wickets coming in Australia. Australia have dominated England at home for most of the century, but the last Ashes series ended 2-2 in 2023. England have not won an Ashes campaign in Australia since 2010-11.Ricky Ponting, speaking on The ICC Review, expects the series to be tighter than forecast. He believes England’s aggressive style means every match is likely to produce a result. “I don’t think there’ll be any draws, just the way that England play,” he said, tipping Australia to edge the series 3-2. Ponting stressed the importance of England’s openers. He feels Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett must attack early or Australia’s bowlers will rip into the middle order. “If the openers don’t get England off to a really good, solid, fast start, then the Australian bowlers could dominate,” Ponting noted. He also underlined the influence of Ben Stokes, calling the England captain “crucial” with both bat and ball. Stokes’ role becomes even bigger if England choose to go without a specialist spinner in Perth and Brisbane. On Australia’s side, Ponting expects Steve Smith to thrive as captain again. “I think his record as captain is better than it is as a player anyway,” he said, pointing out Smith’s average jumps to almost 69 when leading the side. Ponting named Mitchell Starc as his pick for leading wicket taker after Hazlewood was ruled out of the opening Test and backed Smith to finish as the leading run scorer. Australia XI: Jake Weatherald, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (capt), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett
