Australia confirm 17-man Ashes squad to face England

Cameron Bancroft, Michael Neser and Matthew Wade are among the group which will attempt to retain the urn this summer

Australia have confirmed the squad which will attempt to win an Ashes series in England for the first time since 2001.

Captained by Tim Paine, the 17-man group includes Unman Khawaja who withdrew from World Cup with a hamstring injury, and he will compete to open with Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris.

Marnus Labuschagne, who has played with County Championship side Glamorgan this season, is among a host of bowling allrounders alongside Mitchell Marsh.

Matthew Wade is preferred to Alex Carey - who is now free to play for Sussex in the T20 Blast - as the deputy wicket-keeper but there is no front-line second spinner behind Nathan Lyon. Michael Neser is the only uncapped player in the squad which is bidding to retain the urn they won in 2017-18.

^{Marnus Labuschagne has only played five Tests for Australia}

"It has been a difficult task to reduce the 25-player squad here in Southampton down to 17 and those who have not made the final Ashes party are all desperately unlucky," said national selector Trevor Hohns.

"However, that problem also highlights that we have a degree of depth to select from and that is a terrific positive.

"We have had excellent preparations for this series, with eight players from this squad forming part of the Australia A tour that has been in the UK for more than a month, six who took part in the ICC Cricket World Cup, and three who have been playing county cricket. It means the players are acclimatised and ready for the first Test."

Australia's Ashes squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.