Khawaja, Pattinson, Bancroft set for first Test

Usman Khawaja is fit and James Pattinson will make his return to Test cricket.

David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft practice slips catching with coach Justin Langer at Edgbaston, a possible indicator of their spots in the first Test

Selectors have started to fill in the places for the first Test. Usman Khawaja is fit and will bat at No 3. James Pattinson will return to Test cricket for the first time in more than three years and will be partnered by Pat Cummins.

The biggest surprise for many will be that Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are in competition with Peter Siddle for the third seam bowling position on an Edgbaston wicket that will favour batting.

Starc and Hazlewood, when fit, have been automatic inclusions in Test teams for many seasons, but the emergence of Pattinson and a change of thinking means neither could make an appearance in Thursday’s Test.

“There’s probably three to be fair, Starcy, Peter Siddle and Josh Hazlewood, for one spot,” coach Justin Langer admitted. “Three pretty good players to try to find a spot for, I reckon.

“They’re all three great or very, very good bowlers aren’t they?”

Langer begged some sympathy for he and his fellow selectors when trying to decide who should play, but Siddle has been groomed for this Ashes for the better part of a year by the coach and is considered an expert in English conditions.

The three banned batsmen from the Cape Town Test look certain to play their first Test since that cataclysmic event.

Cameron Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner rehearsed as first, second and third slips during training on Tuesday.

The sight of the trio in the cordon during the Test will give the Edgbaston crowd a direct area of focus for their taunts and jeers.

Langer claims selectors have not yet decided whether to drop the incumbent Marcus Harris and include Bancroft for what will be his first Test since the events in Cape Town in March 2018, but Bancroft has the edge.

Gifted allrounder Ben Stokes was in exile from the England camp during the last Ashes facing charges for an ugly incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September 2017. The ECB confirmed last week he will be vice-captain for this series.

The former Australian captain, Smith, cannot return to any leadership positions until next March while Warner has his cards marked to never hold such a role.

Recovered from an ailment that kept him off his feet after the Southampton match and enthused by the performance of his players in an extended net session, Langer revealed his selection thinking ahead of the Test.

“(We are) getting there, absolutely,” he said. Very, very close. We’ll talk to the boys in the next day or so and try and solidify the 12 anyway, so everyone’s really clear where we’re at.

“Usman Khawaja will definitely be in, he’s fit, ready to go, he’s playing well. He’s a seasoned pro for us, he averages 40-odd in Test cricket, his hammy’s good, he’s running well, he’s passed all the fitness tests so he’s ready to go.”

Khawaja missed the last match of the World Cup — Australia lost in a semi-final to England at Edgbaston — with a hamstring strain and only began to run at full pace on Monday.

Warner sent a scare through the Australian camp and a schadenfreude shiver through England’s when he had to leave the nets early after being struck a painful blow in the nets on Monday.

The delivery from Michael Neser glanced off the inside of his bat and struck him on the inside of his left thigh. It was a debilitating blow and he spent hours in the dressing room with ice on the injury and did not emerge again during the training session. He was sore but moving freely enough some hours later.

Langer was totally confident Warner would be fit to play and partner Bancroft at the top of the order although the coach was a little noncommittal.

“Like in all these selections, there’s literally a case for 17 blokes to play. The opening partnership’s going to be really tough, between Cameron and Marcus Harris, really hard,” Langer said.

The wicket looks like it will not give the fast bowlers a lot of assistance but with the promise of bad weather leading into the match and rain predicted for days three, four and five the overhead conditions will ensure the ball does a lot in the air.

The pitch has a covering of dead grass and is rock hard. Langer said it looks very similar to the one the side lost its World Cup match on to England.

“It wasn’t green grass, but we still saw some life in it in that we came unstuck in the semi-final,” he said. “The wicket doesn’t surprise me, that’s more what I was expecting here.”

England’s top order has been in disarray since Alastair Cook retired in September last year. The selectors have kept faith with Rory Burns, Jason Roy and Joe Denly.