Australia have settled on their Ashes squad. Can they beat England … again?

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Last week, Usman Khawaja provided a glowing endorsement of Queensland teammate Matt Renshaw, giving the impression he hoped the pair would open the batting together against England at Optus Stadium on November 21.

Now, though, the squad has been named and Khawaja will be bumping gloves with untried Tasmanian opener Jake Weatherald instead – unless selectors spring a surprise and promote Marnus Labuschagne to open if Cameron Green isn’t bowling at full tilt.

The Grade Cricketer’s Ian Higgins put the question, tongue-in-cheek, to Weatherald this week.

“Are you looking forward to introducing yourself to Uzzie as Matt Renshaw?” Higgins asked Weatherald.

“Yeah, that might be getting me a gig,” Weatherald said. “I don’t think he knows my name, to be honest, even though I’ve played him four or five times. It could be the first time I meet him properly.”

After the clip of Weatherald was posted on social media, Khawaja popped up in the comments and wrote: “Who dis?”

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The pair actually played a handful of T20s together a few years ago in Brisbane grade cricket for Valley.

But for all the debate recently about who does and doesn’t deserve a spot, Australia finally has an Ashes squad locked in – one with more than enough talent and weapons to pull off another big series win.

The banter between Khawaja and Weatherald, coupled with the ever-relaxed smile and swag of one-liners from head selector George Bailey this week, reflects a quiet confidence that when the series begins, Australia will be ready for whatever England serve up.

Sam Konstas is gone and Renshaw has been snubbed. Nathan McSweeney was overlooked despite being last summer’s shiny new toy.

Mitch Marsh, at least in Perth, can take his seat alongside the other fans in the Optus Stadium stands and have those six beers he was craving before lunch on day one.

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Selection debates – who partners Khawaja, who bats at No.3 and No.6 – will bubble away, but don’t expect confirmation until match eve, when stand-in skipper Steve Smith unveils the XI at a packed press conference in Perth.

The Ashes hype, fuelled by a steady stream of former players weighing in across countless platforms, was summed up by Adam Gilchrist’s remarks on Fox Cricket’s T20 coverage on Thursday night.

“There has been so much speculation about what the make-up of that team is going to be,” Gilchrist said to Khawaja. “Does [a squad announcement] now allow everyone to chill out a bit, take a deep breath and, particularly for the playing group, settle and focus?”

“I hope so,” Khawaja replied. “I don’t think there’s too many surprises. Jake Weatherald, which we kind of expected – he’s been knocking the door down.”

As much as Khawaja may have wanted Renshaw in the squad, he conceded Weatherald had mounted a compelling case and deserved to be there. The consensus in cricket circles is that the Tasmania opener wouldn’t have been included unless he was going to play.

It will certainly be an occasion. In almost half a century, Cameron Bancroft is the only Australian men’s player to make his debut as an opener against England on home soil, scoring five and 82 not out in a 10-wicket win in Brisbane to begin the 2017-18 series.

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Khawaja also did Weatherald a favour when he said he believed Labuschagne should bat at No.3.

Publicly, Labuschagne says he’s happy to bat anywhere. Privately, he’d much prefer first drop, where he has done almost all his damage at Test level.

The push to cement Labuschagne at No.3 continued on Friday with former Test captain Mark Taylor and wicketkeeper Ian Healy saying they’d leave Green out if he couldn’t bowl – something unthinkable this time last year. Now it’s a toss-up between the all-rounders, Green and Beau Webster.

“I would very much like to see Weatherald play,” Taylor told reporters at Manly beach on Friday. “Marnus at three, Smith, Head and then you’ve got the question mark.

“If Cam’s not bowling, then I think Beau Webster deserves to be selected. If Cam is bowling and can bowl 10 to 15 overs, then I think Beau will miss out, and he’d be very unlucky to miss out.”

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For all England’s bravado, the visitors will be attempting to win their first Ashes Test in Australia – never mind series – since 2011. The aggregate scoreline across the past three Ashes series in Australia is 13-0 in favour of Australia (5-0, 4-0 and 4-0).

Australia’s players are on average five years older (33.5 to 28.7) and more experienced (49 Tests to 37). All but two of the 15 players named in Australia’s squad are in their 30s.

England’s entire squad has marginally more Test wickets than Nathan Lyon alone – 717 to 562.

However, England’s group has the edge in total Test runs, largely thanks to the prolific Joe Root (13,543) and Ben Stokes (7032), who between them account for more than 70 per cent of their squad’s tally.

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The exciting trio of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook have been highly praised and arrive with the potential to do something special, but touring batsmen have rarely prospered in Australia.

Fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood will raise Australian heart rates, but history shows their durability will be an issue.

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