WTC Final 2025: Pat Cummins backs Marnus Labuschagne as opener, explains Scott Boland omission in bold XI call | Cricket News

Pat Cummins (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)

Australia captain Pat Cummins has named a bold and barely reshuffled enjoying XI for the ICC World Test Championship Final at Lord’s, with Marnus Labuschagne set to open the innings and Josh Hazlewood edging out Scott Boland in the tempo assault.Labuschagne, normally a steadfast No.3, will stroll out with Usman Khawaja on the prime, whereas teenager Sam Konstas misses out. It’s a task change Cummins believes fits the crew’s wants and Labuschagne’s strengths.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“With Marnus moving, we thought it’s one spot up really. It’s not too different to batting three,” Cummins defined. “He has experience, he has done well here at Lord’s and in England in general.”Who’s that IPL participant?While acknowledging the challenges of opening with the Dukes ball in English situations, Cummins highlighted the potential rewards: “Opening the batting can be tough, but it can also be sometimes the best time to bat, before the ball actually starts swinging. There’s an opportunity to score there.”

On leaving out 19-year-old Konstas, who has impressed in his early outings, Cummins mentioned: “Realistically, he’s really young, he’s got a long career ahead of him. So hopefully, even by not playing, we can show him there are learning opportunities.”A harder call got here in the tempo division. Despite Boland’s confirmed success in England, Hazlewood was most popular to affix Cummins and Mitchell Starc in the tempo trio.

“There are some guys where you say you’ve done nothing wrong, don’t change a thing — and that’s Scott,” Cummins admitted. “He’s just really unfortunate to miss out. The message to Scott is this isn’t the end. There’s a lot of Test cricket coming up, and age shouldn’t define selection. Hopefully by rotating our fast bowlers, we can prolong all of our careers.”The remainder of the XI sees Cameron Green return for his first Test since again surgical procedure, whereas Beau Webster retains his spot, offering seam and spin assist in the all-rounder’s position.

Australia XI for WTC Final

Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.