Shane Warne names his Ashes XI, picks Maxwell ahead of Cartwright

Former Australian spin wizard, Shane Warne, named his eleven for the Australian side for upcoming First Magellan Ashes Test scheduled to commence from November 23. Despite backing from Josh Hazlewood and Ricky Ponting, Hilton Cartwright could not find a place in Warne’s XI as the leggie went ahead with Glenn Maxwell for the number 6 position.

Also, the Warne went ahead with fellow Victorian Matthew Wade for the role of wicketkeeping. The Australian management has been accused of making poor decisions when it comes to dropping and replacing wicket-keepers.

“Twelve months ago, Matthew Wade should never have been given another opportunity to keep for Australia but leaving him out now would be an even bigger selection blunder. There has been a succession of stuff-ups with the keepers — Brad Haddin should not have been dropped for Nevill, Nevill should not have been booted for Wade. We’ve twice made poor decisions. Let’s not do it a third time,” claimed Shane Warne according to Fox Sports.

Warne then suggested that Australians need the match-winning abilities of Glenn Maxwell and termed going in with Hilton Cartwright would be a ‘conservative approach’. “All teams need matchwinners and make no mistake, Maxi is one of those,” quipped Warne.

“Yes, we will shake our heads and roll our eyes occasionally, but we have to accept the odd horror and enjoy his best when it comes off. He makes things happen in all facets of the game but needs encouragement from the leaders to express himself,” added the man with 708 Test wickets to his name.

Furthermore, Warne tagged the current Australian bowling as the best in the world. Warne suggested Smith should use Cummins as an impact bowler much like how Clarke used Johnson during the Ashes of 2013.

“He’s bowling wonderfully well — Steve Smith needs to use him as an impact bowler, a bit like Michael Clarke used Mitchell Johnson,” conclude Warne.

Here’s Shane Warne’s Australia XI for Ashes

David Warner

Matt Renshaw

Usman Khawaja

Steve Smith (c)

Peter Handscomb

Glenn Maxwell

Matthew Wade (wk)

Mitchell Starc

Pat Cummins

Nathan Lyon

Josh Hazlewood