England prioritise pace in Perth as Stokes opts to bat

England will launch an all-out pace assault in the Ashes opener after pulling the trigger on a five-pronged seam attack at Perth Stadium and leaving out the spinner they have long groomed for this series, Shoaib Bashir.

Ben Stokes will lead arguably the fastest bowling attack his side has ever brought to these shores as the England captain won the toss and chose to bat on Friday morning. His counterpart Steve Smith said he would have done the same if the coin had landed in his favour.

Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Brendan Doggett, Scott Boland

 

England XI: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood

But it will instead be the Australian attack featuring Brendan Doggett, one of two debutants revealed on match eve by Australia along with Jake Weatherald, that will get first crack at finding life in the Perth Stadium's drop-in pitch.

Weatherald will have to wait to take on Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse on the typically bouncy Western Australian wicket.

Doggett received Baggy Green cap No.472 after the only other previous two male Indigenous Test players, his teammate Scott Boland and former South Australia coach Jason Gillespie, made speeches at a pre-match presentation on the outfield.

David Warner then gave Weatherald, player No.473, his cap in the Australian huddle on a sunny morning.

Stokes' seamers leaves the Bazballers with five right-arm pace options, snubbing Bashir whose off-spin has long been seen by the Brendon McCullum-coached group as a key element of England's bid to win their first Test Down Under in 15 years.

England have persisted with the tall 22-year-old despite him averaging close to 40 with the ball from 19 Tests in the belief the bounce generated by his high release point would help to replicate Nathan Lyon's success on Australian pitches.

But on what is typically the surface with the most carry in the country, England have backed their four frontlines seamers who are all capable of topping 140kph, along with Stokes, a tremendous bowler himself when fully fit.

The visitors have also backed Wood to be fully fit after the express quick hurt his hamstring in a tour match last week. His left leg was heavily strapped before play and indicated to Fox Cricket before play that he is unlikely to play all five Tests this series.

"Woody's obviously had a bit of time out with the injury but he's worked incredibly hard," said Stokes. "He's absolutely raring to go out here, as is Jofra and the rest of the boys this week."

Wood and Archer have only ever previously played one Test together, underlining the fragility of the tourists' attack.

But it is Australia who are reeling from pace absences for this Test, with Smith admitting Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood would be "big losses" for the first Test.

"We've got to deal with what we've got here and we've got a couple of quality performers," he said.

"Scott Boland every time he's had an opportunity has been outstanding and Brendan Doggett has been amazing in Shield cricket for the last couple of years and deserves an opportunity. I'm looking forward to see how they go."

Stokes has typically preferred to bowl first and bat last in Tests but suggested the lack of long-form cricket at this venue (no first-class matches have been played here since last summer's Test series against India) had made it difficult to get a read on the conditions.  

"We'll try to get some runs on the board and see where we are at the end of it," he said. "It's been a long build-up as always for an Ashes series. Now we're finally here. We can't wait to get going.

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: November 21-25, Perth Stadium, 1:20pm AEDT

Second Test: December 4-8, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N), 3pm AEDT

Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad (first Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood