In the first Ashes 2023 Test, England captain Ben Stokes has won the toss and decided to bat first against Australia.
Stokes expressed confidence in the pitch, stating, “Looks like a good cricket wicket. Now we’ll go out and put runs on the board.”
Australia captain Pat Cummins confirmed that Josh Hazlewood has been preferred over Mitchell Starc for the final spot in the Playing XI. Cummins acknowledged the difficulty of the decision, saying, “Tough call, I thought Mitch was impressive against India in the WTC Final, but it’s a squad mentality. It’s a really good problem to have.”
The Playing XIs for both teams are as follows:
England Playing XI against Australia:
1. Zak Crawley
2. Ben Duckett
3. Ollie Pope
4. Joe Root
5. Harry Brook
6. Ben Stokes (c)
7. Jonny Bairstow (wk)
8. Moeen Ali
9. Ollie Robinson
10. Stuart Broad
11. James Anderson
Australia Playing XI against England:
1. David Warner
2. Usman Khawaja
3. Marnus Labuschagne
4. Steve Smith
5. Travis Head
6. Cameron Green
7. Alex Carey (wk)
8. Pat Cummins (c)
9. Nathan Lyon
10. Josh Hazlewood
11. Scott Boland
