Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon are back in the same 13-player squad for the first time in a year. The two-Test series opens in Darwin on August 13 before shifting to Mackay.
Australia's Test side is set to look like itself again. Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon have all been named in the same 13-player squad for the first time in roughly twelve months, returning together for the two-Test NRMA Insurance series against Bangladesh that begins at Marrara Stadium in Darwin on August 13.
Across Australia's 2025-26 home summer, the three frontline bowlers played a combined total of three Tests. Cummins managed one match — the third Ashes Test in Adelaide — before a back stress complaint shut him down. Hazlewood was available in patches but limited by hamstring and Achilles issues, and Lyon went under the knife in December for a hamstring repair after tearing the muscle during the Adelaide Test. The squad announcement finally puts an end to a stretch where Australian selectors were juggling injury reports more often than they were juggling XIs.
Selection chairman George Bailey framed the returns as the reward of careful off-season work rather than rushed comebacks. "Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyon had worked extremely hard, individually and with the (sports science) teams, over the past few months to return from their respective injuries," Bailey said. "While this is a 13-player squad, we have players prepared and available should any adjustments be required in the lead up to these matches."
The full squad reads as a near full-strength Australian side: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald and Beau Webster.
The one conspicuous omission is Michael Neser. Neser was one of the finds of the Ashes summer, taking wickets in pressure phases and providing control in conditions that often demanded it. His absence tells a story about the depth of Australia's pace stocks rather than a drop in his form. With Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc all available for the first time since the Caribbean tour earlier in 2026, there simply isn't room. Brendan Doggett, who has been training with the Test group in Brisbane, sits alongside Neser as next-in-line pace depth.
The 13-player cut also means selectors still have one decision left to make. Scott Boland is the likeliest to be squeezed out for the series opener at Marrara Stadium. Boland has historically been the fall-guy when the Cummins-Starc-Hazlewood trio is fit, missing selection for last year's World Test Championship final and the first two Tests of the West Indies tour. For fantasy players weighing whether to back Boland or trust the big-three rotation, the choice is closer than the squad sheet suggests.
Lyon's return is the most carefully managed. He is the oldest member of the squad and is coming back from his second significant soft-tissue injury in three years. The selectors have already hinted that his workload will be watched closely across a 12-month schedule that could stretch to 21 Tests if Australia reach next year's World Test Championship final.
Todd Murphy, Lyon's understudy, has been training with the Australian group in Brisbane and will travel as cover. The selectors have previously left Lyon out for day-night Tests at home when fit; Bangladesh is a day game at Marrara and a day game at Mackay, both of which suit a spinner of Lyon's calibre.
Lyon's inclusion also reopens the door to fielding both Cameron Green and Beau Webster in the same XI. With Usman Khawaja retired after the 4-1 Ashes win at the SCG in January, the No.5 spot is genuinely up for grabs, and Green, Alex Carey and Josh Inglis are all in the conversation. If Australia want both allrounders, the squeeze comes down to Lyon.
The captain's return is the headline and the headline's subtext. Cummins turns 33 during the Bangladesh series and has played one international match in any format since the Adelaide Ashes Test in December — a stunning stat for a fast bowler widely treated as the leader of Australia's Test side.
His back stress complaint was serious enough that selectors won't want to test it twice in a hurry. The IPL 2026 stint gave him overs, rhythm and confidence, and the longer break since returning from India has been deliberate. Hazlewood's path back was similar — limited overs through the IPL after recovering from the latest in a long line of soft-tissue injuries.
For fantasy players, the Cummins-Lyon-Starc-Hazlewood quartet at full strength has been a rare sight this calendar year. The captaincy pick on Cummins in Darwin is a high-upside choice if the pitch carries the pace and bounce the Top End is known for. Lyon as captain pick on a wearing fifth-day surface is the safer template.
Bangladesh's first Test tour of Australia since 2003 is the other half of the story. Bangladesh are an experienced away side, but the gap in class against a Cummins-led attack at full strength is the kind of mismatch that fantasy players should plan for. The pace and bounce in Darwin, and the dry, often two-paced surface at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, both suit Australian bowlers.
That environment makes the contest interesting from a fantasy-cricket perspective even without a marquee batting battle. The bowling points from the Australian quicks and from Lyon should drive most fantasy leaderboards. If Bangladesh play the aggressive brand of cricket they have under Najmul Hanto Shanto, the Australian quicks will rack up wickets. If Bangladesh look to grind, Lyon comes into the game from day two onwards.
The Bangladesh side has its own selection puzzles that will play out over the next two weeks. Mushfiqur Rahim's availability, the shape of the pace attack, and whether off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz is rested or rotated, will all become clearer once the squad is named.
First Test: August 13-17, Marrara Stadium, Darwin, 10am local time. Second Test: August 22-26, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 10am local time. Both matches are part of the NRMA Insurance Bangladesh Test series and both start at the same hour.
Three selection calls to watch in the lead-up: the Hazlewood-Boland verdict for the Darwin opener, whether Australia bat Green at No.5 or hand Carey the spot, and how many overs Lyon is allowed to bowl in the first innings of each Test. These are the small details that often decide fantasy contests before the ball is bowled.
If you are setting a fantasy team for either Test, here is the framework that holds up. Pick Cummins as captain when the pitch is green, pick Lyon as captain when the surface dries on day three or four, and pick Hazlewood or Starc as captain when the ball is hard and the lights are on for the new ball. Travis Head against Bangladesh's left-arm spin has historically been one of the safer Australian batting captain picks in home conditions.
For vice-captain, Marnus Labuschagne against Bangladesh's left-arm spin and Steve Smith at first drop both carry strong recent records in Australian conditions. Mitchell Starc with the new ball in Darwin, where overcast mornings are common in August, is a fantasy staple.
For more cricket news and fantasy strategy notes, follow the Come Sports news desk as the squad announcements firm up and the team sheets land on the morning of each Test.
The squad is the news. The XI is the next news. Expect selectors to confirm the playing side roughly 24 hours before the toss at Marrara Stadium, which leaves fantasy players a small window to lock in captain picks after the surface has been inspected.
Boland's fate will be the first domino. If he plays, expect Cummins to sit slightly shorter spells and Lyon to share the workload with the part-time spin of Green and Webster. If Boland is left out and Hazlewood is the third seamer, expect Cummins to bowl first change and Starc to take the new ball with Hazlewood. The Mackay pitch will probably tilt the second Test back towards Lyon as the primary wicket-taker, especially if Bangladesh play two frontline spinners.
The series is short, the bowling attack is back, and the fantasy implications are sharper than they have been in any Australian home Test since the 2025-26 Ashes. Watch the surface report the night before each Test, watch the team sheet the morning of, and let the conditions — not the names — decide the captain pick.
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