Squad: Tim Paine (c&wk), 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 (wk) and David Warner

With the returns of Warner and Bancroft to the Test set-up, Joe Burns and Kurtis Patterson - both of whom scored match-winning centuries in Australia's last Test assignment against Sri Lanka at home - had to make way also to accommodate Smith in the middle-order. Bancroft impressed the selectors in the recently concluded intra-squad warm-up, where a scored 93* to lead his side to a victory on a treacherous track at Southampton.

"I don't know if you saw the way he [Bancroft] played in this game out here just now, in very trying conditions. He's the type of player we think we need in our Australian side, he's tough, he's enthusiastic, his work ethic is fantastic. And he's infectious. We need people like that, people who want to continue to improve their game, and who are hard-nosed and tough. He fits the ball.""

However, Australia opted for only a single specialist spinner in Nathan Lyon for conditions expected to be seam-friendly, which tilted the scales for the inclusion of the uncapped Queensland right-arm pacer Michael Neser. The spin back-up to Lyon will have to be provided by middle-order batsman Marnus Labuschagne, who bowls useful leg-spin, testified by match figures of 5 for 119 against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi last October.

All this kept Alex Carey out of the touring party, after being in the race following a highly impressive performance in the World Cup, where he hit 375 runs at 62.50 including three half-centuries. "Very tough call that one, on Alex," Hohns said. "He's been in very good form as we saw in the World Cup. We know in the short term if anything was to happen to Tim Paine, either during a game or what have you, we have two people in that squad who can cover. But if it were to be a long-term [issue] that's where Alex would come in".