Inglis heads home as selectors mull keeping call

Josh Inglis has returned home to Perth as Australia's selectors prepare to make a huge call regarding their wicketkeeper for the Ashes opener.

T20 World Cup squad members Inglis, Mitch Marsh and Ashton Agar have flown out of Queensland after being released from quarantine.

Inglis and fellow gloveman Alex Carey are locked in a selection showdown to replace former skipper Tim Paine in Australia's XI for the first Vodafone Ashes Test starting on December 8.

Carey, having represented Australia in 83 limited-overs matches, already loomed as the frontrunner before Tuesday's development.

Legend Ricky Ponting is among those backing Inglis to make a pressure-laden international debut at the Gabba, completing what would be a remarkably rapid rise.

 

Inglis is set to return to Brisbane soon after his pre-planned trip to see family, but the growing expectation is that it will likely be for an Australia A tour game rather than the first Test.

Selectors are yet to settle on an XI, including a decision on whether Usman Khawaja or Travis Head will bat at No.5.

Unselected Test squad members from both Australia and England will be able to play a tour game at Ian Healy Oval beginning a day after the first Test.

It's unclear how long Inglis, who enjoyed a productive winter in England before linking up with the T20 World Cup squad in the UAE, will remain at home.

Carey and Inglis were both included in a list of Australia A players that selectors named earlier this month.

Chief selector George Bailey is yet to indicate which gloveman will replace Paine in the Test squad.

An intra-squad match on Wednesday was set to reveal some selection clues, but wet weather is expected to ruin at least two days of that tune-up.

Australia won't name sides for the 'match', which is likely to resemble a centre-wicket session rather than a genuine contest.

Former England coach Trevor Bayliss, who is in charge of the Sydney Thunder for KFC BBL|11, noted Australia will be keen to move on from weeks of headlines about Paine's resignation and sexting saga.

"Normally when the England team comes here all the focus is on them and the one or two small hiccups, they have on the way get blown out of all proportion," Bayliss said in Sydney, having coached the tourists when Ben Stokes' absence overshadowed the 2017-18 Ashes.

"Both teams will want the cricket to start and all of that to get pushed into the background, and they can concentrate on their cricket."

Vodafone Men's Ashes

Squads

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

England: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Schedule

First Test: December 8-12, The Gabba

Second Test: December 16-20, Adelaide Oval

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, Perth Stadium