Ashes 2022: Australia Test team junior pictures, David Warner, Usman Khawaja
With our boys heading into the final Ashes test today, we’ve delved into the archive to dig out their adorable junior cricket photos. But can you recognise them?
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These are the faces of our Ashes heroes, posing in front of overflowing trophy cabinets with a mix of surfie necklaces, ear bling and cheesy grins.
Can you recognise these familiar faces from before they became household names?
USMAN KHAWAJA
The recent golden boy of the Sydney Test, double centurion Usman Khawaja is pictured in a striking navy blue tracksuit in front of his trophy collection in 1996. The massive trophy with the prime position on top of the cabinet was for a player of the year award.
A picture of Khawaja in 1998 shows the cricket prodigy in a batting stance before representing South East Sydney in school cricket.
ALEX CAREY
Australian gloveman Alex Carey had the surfie-style necklace as he took the field in 2006 for the under 15 South Australian team.
SCOTT BOLAND
Australian cricket’s newest cult hero Scott Boland posed for the cameras at Melbourne’s Junction Oval as a 15-year-old alongside the King of Spin Shane Warne, after winning a competition for a net session.
I wonder if he ever thought he would be more popular than Australia’s greatest leggie?
PAT CUMMINS
Proof that Pat Cummins has never worried about getting his hands dirty, the future Test captain from Sydney’s west was pictured in a muddy backyard cricket session with his brothers in his Penrith playing strip.
Leaning against a white picket fence with his Nike joggers and socks pulled up, a teenage Cummins looks as down to earth as he has proven to be.
MARNUS LABUSCHAGNE
One of the brightest personalities in the Australian Test team, Marnus Labuschagne has clearly sported his signature grin since 2009.
The teenager was all smiles at a cricket training camp before making his first class debut five short years later.
TRAVIS HEAD
A steely Travis Head, aged 16, was pictured at the start of his blossoming cricket career in 2010 sporting a Gun & Moore bat over his shoulder.
In the days before the picture, the future Australian Test batter had led his South Australian club Tea Tree Gully to an A-Grade victory.
DAVID WARNER
The dynamic opening batter enjoyed his cricket from a young age, posing with his trusty Gray Nicolls bat at his family’s Matraville home.
Warner was teammates with fellow Australian Test batter Usman Khawaja in the South Eastern Junior Cricket Association representative team.
STEVE SMITH
A baby-faced Steve Smith channelled his best Zoolander poses in 2007 after playing for NSW Combined High Schools at Scots College.
The teenage cricketer was still an all-rounder who was developing his skills with Sutherland District Cricket Club.
CAMERON GREEN
The dangerous all rounder is one of the youngest faces in the Australian Test team which could explain the lack of junior cricket photos.
The talented cricketer is pictured in 2018 celebrating a wicket at a Sheffield Shield match at the WACA. Can’t say he has changed a bit.
MITCHELL STARC
The ‘pink ball wizard’ Mitchell Starc appears to be a man in charge as he oozes confidence inside a caged cricket net in 2007 after learning of his selection in the Australia under 19 squad as a 17-year-old.
Who would’ve thought this cool cat would go on to become one of the world’s most lethal fast bowlers in recent times.
JOSH HAZLEWOOD
A 17-year-old Josh Hazlewood has followed the fast bowlers code of keeping smiling to a minimum and only offered a smirk in 2008, pictured at the SCG in the days before a NSW Blues match against New Zealand.
NATHAN LYON
Long before he was known as the GOAT, Australia’s greatest ever off spinner Nathan Lyon developed his craft with the South Australian Redbacks.
The fan favourite is pictured in 2011 after injuring his finger fielding off his own bowling in a Sheffield Shield match at the WACA.
MICHAEL NESER
Michael Neser may have made his name as a fast bowler but he has been pictured with the bat in hand as a rising cricketer at Robina’s Kerrydale Oval in Queensland.
JHYE RICHARDSON
The athletic action of Jhye Richardson can’t be missed as he fires in a delivery in a 2014 match at Aquinas College during the WA Festival of Cricket.
The fast bowler represented the Australian Legends team who took on the Perth Scorchers.
MARCUS HARRIS
Australia’s opening batter for the first four Test matches Marcus Harris hasn’t yet celebrated a Test century but in 2009 things were a bit different, celebrating two centuries in two matches in a single day.
While sporting some ear bling, a teenage Harris completed the impressive feat while representing Scarborough Cricket Club in Western Australia.
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