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LONDON: Australia captain Pat Cummins, on Tuesday, unveiled the Playing XI for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final against South Africa, scheduled to commence on June 11 here at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground.
All-rounder Cameron Green is set to make his return to red-ball action as he will play his first Test since back surgery.
Meanwhile, middle-order batter Marnus Labuschagne will be promoted up the order to open the innings alongside Usman Khawaja.
“Marnus has experience, he has done well here at Lord’s and in England in general,” Cummins said.
“Opening the batting can be tough, but it can also be sometimes the best time to bat, before the Dukes ball actually starts swinging.”
On the other hand, pace bowler Josh Hazlewood edged out fellow seamer Scott Boland to secure his place in the Playing XI of Australia. He will join Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins to form a dynamic pace attack.
They will be supported by experienced spinner Nathan Lyon as well as all-rounder Beau Webster, whose ability to seamlessly switch between medium pace and spin options provides extra strategic layers to Australia’s bowling plans.
Notably, Australia are standing on the brink of history, poised to become the first team ever to successfully defend their title in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).
They defeated India in a thrilling final during the last WTC cycle at The Oval back in 2023.
Meanwhile, South Africa, making their inaugural appearance in the WTC final, have also revealed their Playing XI.
Australia Playing XI: 1. Usman Khawaja, 2. Marnus Labuschagne, 3. Cameron Green, 4. Steve Smith, 5. Travis Head, 6. Beau Webster, 7. Alex Carey (wk), 8. Pat Cummins (c), 9. Mitchell Starc, 10. Nathan Lyon, 11. Josh Hazlewood.
South Africa playing XI: Temba Bavuma (c), Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verrynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.
