Australia have unveiled their playing XI for the first Test against Bangladesh in Darwin, with veteran seamer Josh Hazlewood preferred over Scott Boland.
Addressing the media on the eve of the fixture, skipper Pat Cummins confirmed that Boland would miss out with Hazlewood returning to the side for their first Test in eight months.
The Test match will see Australia’s first-choice pace trio of Cummins, Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc reuniting for the first time since the tour of the West Indies more than a year ago.
Hazlewood was sidelined since last October due to hamstring and Achilles problems, causing him to miss the entire home Ashes. On the other hand, Cummins featured in only one of the five Tests against England.
Nathan Lyon also returns to lead the spin department after missing the latter part of the Ashes due to a hamstring injury.
"I think we were pretty certain we wanted Lyno [Lyon] inside, so just kind of working out what the make-up of the quicks were," Cummins said. "So went with Joshy, [we] obviously know Scotty's class. It's always a pretty tight call. I think it's one of those ones where there's not much you can say to Scotty other than obviously there's a lot of cricket coming up, but he knows his worth and how good he is, and I'm sure he'll be out there at some point pretty soon."
Cummins expressed immense satisfaction with the return of Lyon, who was excluded from two day-night Tests last season but delivered a dominant performance in Adelaide to help secure the Ashes before suffering an injury.
"I was even looking at some footage the other day of that Adelaide Test, and I think that's the best he's bowled in years," Cummins said. "So it [the injury] was really bad timing but he's been great. It's been pretty public how hard he's worked over the last six months or so. He's in there every day training, looking for this opportunity. So he looks in incredible shape. He's been bowling beautifully, and as a captain and team-mate, it's going to be awesome to have him back out there."
Cameron Green has retained his place alongside fellow all-rounder Beau Webster. The two pace-bowling all-rounders will bat in the middle order -- either side of Alex Carey, who will remain at No. 6.
"Kez has won a few games for us at No. 6. I like that combination of him and Webster at six, seven," Cummins said. "I feel like Greeny's a good No. 5, so you can try and get funky, but we thought that's kind of how the team will function the best. It's a pretty good problem to have when someone like Kez, you feel like a good bat even higher than where he's at."
The first Test will be played from August 13 to 17 at Marrara Stadium in Darwin, followed by the second Test from August 22 to 26 at Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay.
The two-match Test series between Australia and Bangladesh will be part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship 2025-2027 cycle. Australia is ranked second in the WTC table, whereas Bangladesh is placed fourth.
Australia playing XI for the first Test: Jake Weatherald, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Beau Webster, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, and Josh Hazlewood.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, and Beau Webster.
(With Cricinfo Inputs)
