Star Trio Cummins, Hazlewood, Lyon Included in Australia’s Bangladesh Squad

Australia’s major guns are all fit to return for the Test series against Bangladesh, with skipper Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon named to a 13-man team for the two-match series in Darwin and Mackay in August.

Cummins, Hazlewood, and Lyon were all injured during Australia’s last Test in Sydney in January, but the trio replace the unfortunate Michael Neser, who played three of the five Ashes Tests, including the last two, and performed admirably.

Todd Murphy and Brendan Doggett were both members of the Sydney squad but did not play. Those two, along with Neser, are on standby for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh.

The series begins at least 20 Tests in 11 months, culminating in next year’s Ashes in England, with a possible World Test Championship final in early June. “The NSP [national selection panel] look forward to the return of Pat, Josh and Nathan,” said national selector George Bailey.

“They have worked extremely hard, individually and with the SSSM [sports science, sports medicine] teams, over the past few months to return from their respective injuries. “While this is a 13-player squad, we have players prepared and available for any adjustments in the lead up to these matches.”

As previously indicated, the number of cricket and schedule over the next 12 months are likely to provide additional opportunities in all formats for many players.”

Usman Khawaja’s retirement from Test cricket has created a vacancy at No. 5 in Australia’s XI, but the selectors have not added a new batting face to the squad. Cameron Green and Beau Webster played together in Australia’s last Test at Nos. 7 and 8 respectively and the duo look ready to continue together with Green likely to move to No. 5 ahead of Alex Carey and Webster.

Josh Inglis, a specialist batter who played two Ashes Tests in Brisbane and Adelaide last summer, has been appointed the squad’s reserve batter and wicketkeeper.

Jake Weatherald has been retained as opener, and he will continue his partnership with Travis Head, which produced four half-century stands in the Ashes.

But the 31-year-old will be looking for a huge score in one of the two Tests, having only scored a half-century in his first ten Test innings, averaging 22.33 during the Ashes. Marnus Labuschagne has been retained at No. 3 with Steven Smith locked in at No.4.

“There were moments in that [Ashes] series where we liked the combination of what Jake and Travis were able to bring and what that looked like as a collective, and then also individually what Jake at his best looked like within that series,” Bailey said.

“So hopefully we do see some growth out of that and some understanding of what it takes for success at Test level.”

Hazlewood’s return will force selectors to make a difficult decision on Scott Boland, who played all five Ashes Tests alongside the unstoppable Mitchell Starc.

Hazlewood, 35, missed the entire series due to hamstring and Achilles concerns. He has suffered injuries in his first Test or first-class match in four of the last five summers.

In 2021-22, he developed a side injury in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season. In 2022-23 he picked up another side strain in the first Test of the summer and missed the next two Tests.

He then developed Achilles concerns following his first Test back in January 2023 and was returned home from the tour of India without playing a single Test.

He had an uninterrupted run in 2023-24, playing nine Tests in a row before sustaining another side strain in the opening match of the 2024-25 summer against India. He returned for the third Test in Brisbane, but damaged his calf early in the game.

He played four straight Tests last winter, including the World Test Championship final against South Africa and three Tests against the West Indies in the Caribbean, but sustained a hamstring issue in his first Sheffield Shield match last summer, before the first Ashes Test. He subsequently suffered ongoing Achilles concerns while attempting to return, missing the rest of the series and the T20 World Cup.

Cummins, meanwhile, has only played one match for Australia since last July owing to a back ailment sustained during the Ashes victory in Adelaide.

It was in that match that Lyon suffered a significant hamstring injury that required surgery. Boland, 37, has not missed a Test through injury in that time and has 82 Test wickets at 18.58 from 19 appearances.

“I think the unknowns are how much workload they have within certain Test matches or within certain series,” Bailey said of how the quicks will be managed. “Conditions definitely play an impact at different periods as well during the 21 Tests and the many differences we’ll experience across those as well.

“Our idea is that during the 21 Tests that there will be different moments when there will be different names and different line-ups, but not so much anticipating in terms of mapping out that they’ll miss specific games. The conditions and I assume the outcomes will influence that a little bit as well.”

Australia’s Test team vs Bangladesh

Pat Cummins (capt), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster