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Fresh from their victory in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India, Australia will be confident and raring to go when they take the field against England in the first Test at the Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham on Friday, June 16. The Baggy Greens will be hoping to retain the coveted Urn to end a 22-year-long away drought in this long rivalry against England.
The last time these two sides faced off in The Ashes was back in 2021-22. Then Australia won the series 4-0 win at home. But in England, they last won The Ashes way back in 2001. But more recently, in 2019, the Baggy Greens finished with a 2-2 result.
And ending this streak of four losses and a draw in the last five away series would be a feather on Australia skipper Pat Cummins' cap, he said ahead of the match. "After the other day, there was a bit of talk that we'd ticked off the World Test Championship, the T20 World Cup, a one-day World Cup, but we still don't feel like we've ticked off an away Ashes series. It's the aim for our group this time," Cummins was quoted as saying before the match.
He refrained from revealing any details from the Playing XI but confirmed that Josh Hazlewood is fit for the first Test. "We do have a team but will announce it tomorrow, mainly because we haven't got around to telling all our squad. The big news from last week is Josh Hazelwood is now available," he said.
Hazlewood's return provides a welcome headache for Australia, and now there will be a decision on which two between Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc will partner Cummins in the pace attack. The fast bowler was coy about it himself.
"After the other day, there was a bit of talk that we'd ticked off the World Test Championship, the T20 World Cup, a one-day World Cup, but we still don't feel like we've ticked off an away Ashes series. It's the aim for our group this time," Cummins was quoted as saying.
Cummins also backed a misfiring David Warner to perform well in The Ashes, despite having a subpar average in the low 20s in The Ashes in England. "It didn't go Davey's way last time, but we'll see a different Davey this time," Cummins added.
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