The Great Australian Bat Off has returned for a brand new season with fresh faces and forgotten favourites bidding to join the cast for the Ashes series opener. In a major subplot, captain Pat Cummins is officially out of the first Test and is all but certain to be replaced by understudy Scott Boland, while the final auditions to claim a spot in the squad will be staged across the Sheffield Shield matches that begin on Tuesday as much as the T20 series against India.
The main storyline will be familiar to seasoned fans as the Australia selectors largely repeat last year’s search for an opener to partner Usman Khawaja. But the return to form of Marnus Labuschagne, and injury concerns for Cameron Green and Beau Webster, are plot twists that have thrown up more uncertainty over which six batters will be included for the Perth Test.
