Ashes 2019 | 24 players to feature in Australia's clash against Australia 'A' ahead of the first Ashes test

07/10/2019

The highly anticipated warm-up match between Australia and Australia 'A', which was initially granted a first-class status to induce more competitiveness, has now been altered to allow 24 players to feature in the match, giving the players one last shot ahead of The Ashes to impress the selectors.

The Australian team are all set to take on the Australia 'A' team on July 23rd in what will be their last warm-up match ahead of the Ashes, after which they will travel to Edgbaston for the first test. The fixture, which was initially granted "first-class" status in order to give a more competitive edge, has now been altered to allow 24 players to feature, with 12 members featuring in each team.

Australian captain Tim Paine, who will lead the Australian XII in the fixture, does not expect the alteration in the nature of the match to interfere with the intensity of the fixture, with Ashes spots up for grabs. "Whether it's a first-class status game or not, I don't think is going to take any sting out of the competitiveness of it. "It's not overly important because there's going to be huge things up for grabs." Paine told cricket.com.au.

The Australian 'A' team arrived in June in England to play five List A fixtures and three four-day fixtures, the last of which will be their clash against the main Australian XI. Returning from injury, speedster James Pattinson impressed for Australia 'A' in their four-day game against Sussex claiming seven wickets in the match, while openers Marcus Harris and Joe Burns notched up centuries.

Australia will take on England in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston on August 1.