Australia have locked in their playing XI for the second and final Test against Bangladesh, starting on August 22 in Mackay. Scott Boland will once again miss out, with Australia sticking with veteran spinner Nathan Lyon. Australia have made only one change to the XI that took on Bangladesh in the first Test, bringing in Matt Renshaw, who played his last Test for Australia back in 2023.
Renshaw replacing Jake Weatherald at the top of the batting order will open the innings for Australia alongside batting maverick Travis Head. Jake Weatherald was notably dropped from Australia’s squad for the second Test against England following disappointing outings of 23 & 0 in the first Test, which Australia lost by nine wickets to go 0-1 down in the series.
“A lot of people jump to say that: ‘you have to win everything’ – and obviously, we hope we do,” Australia captain Pat Cummins told reporters.
“Particularly home Test matches, we pride ourselves on winning as many as we can. We were nowhere near our best. But I think Bangladesh played really well. They’re a really good cricket team.”
Australia XI for second Test: Matthew Renshaw, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Beau Webster, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood