(Cricket news) The ultimate grudge match between England and Australia famously known as the Ashes is about to kick off with the first Test at the Gabba. Australia named their playing XI four days before the game while England have announced their 12 man squad for the 1st Test Jimmy Anderson will be rested for the game.

Australia Playing XI:

David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazelwood.

The Australian line up is pretty much as expected. There is still no place for the in-form Usman Khawaja as Harris and Head are preferred over the Queensland skipper. Despite underwhelming recent performances with the red ball Starc and Lyon are given the nod over Jhye Richardson and Mitchell Swepson.

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Possible England Playing XI:

Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Jack Leech, Stuart Broad.

With Anderson set to miss the game all 3 of Woakes, Robinson and Broad should get a place in the side over Mark Wood. England will give Jack Leech a go as the specialist spinner. Anderson is definitely fit and is only rested because of workload management as they want him to be fully ready for the pink ball Test in Adelaide. Ollie Pope is preferred over Johnny Bairstow because of his performance against India at the Oval. 

Pitch and Weather Report:

The Gabba is Australia's fortress where they hadn't lost since 1988. India breached it earlier this year but that doesn't change the fact that defeating Australia in Brisbane is not a piece of cake. The pitch is likely to assist the quicks and slow down as the days progress. England may even consider going with 4 quicks along with Ben Stokes and use Root as the part time spinner leaving Jack Leech on the bench. Rain is forecasted on the first 3 days while day 4 should be sunny followed by a cloudy day 5.

England have taken a gamble by resting Anderson for the very first Test due to the weather conditions there is a high possibility that we will not get a result after 5 days. The big concern for Australia is the red ball form of Starc and Lyon. If things go wrong then the pair's selection in particular will come under a lot of scrutiny.