Australia return to familiar scene as Lord's unknowns await

Australia are plotting for "two extremes" at Lord's after touching downing in England to begin their final preparations for next week's World Test Championship defence.

Having regrouped in Inverness, northern Scotland over the weekend for some squad bonding, it was the familiar surrounds of Beckenham's county ground in south London that hosted a lengthy first hit out in English conditions on Wednesday afternoon UK time.

The reigning WTC champions have put faith in a similar build up to two years ago when they also trained at the Kent outground, as they seek to become the first team to win multiple Test Championship crowns when they face off with South Africa from June 11.

Missing only Travis Head, who sat out Wednesday's session, recently crowned Indian Premier League champion Josh Hazlewood and defeated Punjab Kings finalist Josh Inglis, who were en route from India at the time, Australia's batters and bowlers went toe-to-toe under the watchful eye of both national selectors, George Bailey and Tony Dodemaide.

While Australia's squad to contest the biennial Test showpiece also has a familiar feel to the one that defeated India at The Oval in 2023, several tough calls loom for the Bailey-chaired selection panel that also includes coach Andrew McDonald.

McDonald said the 'bat v ball' sessions at Beckenham would be important in helping the players get a feel for English conditions with Australia opting not to have practice game like South Africa have against Zimbabwe, as has been customary for touring Aussie sides since the 2019 Ashes.

"Other teams choose to have practice games – we try to replicate that intensity in a controlled environment and you would have seen that on display today," McDonald told cricket.com.au at Beckenham on Wednesday.

"The bat v ball contests (help with) resuming back into red-ball cricket and getting a feel for the English conditions. We trained with Dukes balls in Brisbane as well but they're different surfaces, different sort of clays and it doesn't quite behave exactly the same.

"We'll transition into it and we're hoping just to get a bit of connection around the group as well, in terms of everyone back together.

"We've got some decisions to make also, so we're hoping to bed those down early and give guys clarity leading into that WTC final."

Opener Sam Konstas looked sharp during a testing examination from quicks Scott Boland, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, the latter who regularly had the ball carrying through above wicketkeeper Alex Carey's head standing 20 yards away.

Allrounder Beau Webster and reserve fast bowler Brendan Doggett also sent down a handful of overs, and the sight of local left-arm net bowler Ali Zarmir and assistant coach Daniel Vettori wanging throw downs from a substantial height seemed likely preparation for towering Proteas threat Marco Jansen.

Fellow top-order batters Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, wicketkeeper Alex Carey and the returning Cameron Green also faced up to Australia's vaunted pace attack on a lively centre-wicket surface that saw ball beating bat regularly.

"You're always looking for certain aspects; in particular, the bowlers, how they're moving, have they got the loads under their belts?" McDonald said.

"The batters … really, it's about how we want to shape that order, they're all viable options depending on how we want to stack them up.

"We try to make the right decisions at the right time and we're a few days off having to make that decision, so we'll just be trying to prepare everyone for that opportunity."

Another familiar aspect this time around is the venue for this cycle's Test decider – while different from the last – it will feel like a home away from home for Cummins' side with Australia boasting a remarkable Test match record at the Home of Cricket.

Australia have only lost twice at Lord's in almost 100 years, winning two of the last three Ashes contests (either side of a draw) at the St John's Wood venue, including the 2023 clash by 43 runs, which followed the last WTC final.

From 40 matches at Lord's in more than 140 years of Test cricket, Australia have claimed 18 wins for a success rate of 45 per cent, which is superior to England's 40.68 per cent from 145 games and South Africa's 33.33 per cent at the same venue.

However, this particular Lord's match poses its own unique challenges with Australia not having commenced a Test at the venue this early in June since 1921, with that Ashes tie also beginning on the 11th of the month.

Therefore, McDonald and co will no doubt be keeping a close eye on the how the pitch evolves in the lead up to June 11 after they arrive for their first training session at the ground on Sunday.

Three of the last five Lord's Tests have only lasted three days, which includes South Africa's last visit in 2022 when Kagiso Rabada took 5-52 and 2-27 as they beat England by an innings.

"Lord's presents two extremes, really," McDonald said.

"You see some really short, fast games there, depending on the conditions, and you see some games that are elongated and go the distance.

"We've got an incredible luxury in Nathan Lyon who can play attackingly and defensively with the ball and we've got an attack that complements each other whichever way you go (in deciding whether to pick an allrounder or not).

"Are we going to be exposed by the overs that our bowlers have to bowl – that's a decision that we'll make as we get closer.

"We haven't played a lot of cricket at Lord's in June so we're going have to make some educated guesses on what the game potentially will look like and that'll generally inform our selection."

World Test Championship Final

June 11-15: South Africa v Australia, Lord's

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Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster. Travelling reserve: Brendan Doggett

South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne