Khawaja out of Gabba Test; England make one change
England have replaced the injured Mark Wood with spin bowling all-rounder Will Jacks
Australia will be without opener Usman Khawaja in the second Ashes Test at the Gabba, starting on December 4. Khawaja has been ruled out due to the back injury he suffered during the series opener in Perth. With Australia not naming a replacement for the opening batter, Josh Ingis and Beau Webster are in line to make a return to the Australia XI.
Khawaja had a brief nets session on Tuesday and looked to be in discomfort - an indication that he hadn't fully recovered yet. It remains to be seen who opens in his place - Marnus Labuschagne opened in the first innings of the Perth Test, while Travis Head did it in the second.
Following his heroics in the fourth-innings chase in Perth, Head has indicated he'd be happy to open the batting. Ingis, who hit a fiery century against England Lions last week, is also an option should he be picked. Bringing in Inglis would allow Australia to retain Head in the middle-order. Should they go with Webster instead, Head is then likely to move up the order. Webster debuted for Australia last year in the home series against India where he played at No.6.
England meanwhile, have made one change to their XI with spin-bowling all-rounder Will Jacks replacing the injured Mark Wood. Jacks, who bowled at length during the training session in the lead-up to the second Test, gets in ahead of frontline spinner Shoaib Bashir.
Jacks made his Test debut in 2022 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, picking a six-fer in the first innings. He only played one more Test after that - in Multan in the same series.
