INTERNATIONAL: England's cricket selectors said on Tuesday that they have omitted Jonny Bairstow from their 12-man squad for the Wednesday Ashes opener in Brisbane and opted to keep seasoned paceman James Anderson in reserve for the second pink ball test in Adelaide. With no time for tour matches and internal games disrupted by rain, players will go in cold into the opening battle of cricket's most enduring rivalry.

Mark Wood was named with fellow quicks Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson but may end up making way for spinner Jack Leach depending on the Gabba wicket. If Wood is preferred, Joe Root-captained England could go in with five seam-bowling options, with Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes included as all-rounders. Anderson is fit but is being rested for the match in Adelaide, the team said.

England clarified that Anderson had no injury concerns after media reported he had been ruled out of the Gabba test due to a calf strain. With Buttler confirmed as wicketkeeper, middle order batsman Ollie Pope is set to be the beneficiary of Bairstow's omission and will have a chance to build upon his 81 in the fourth test against India at The Oval.

Buttler says, "I think anytime you come and play in Australia it's a huge challenge. And we know that as an English team. History tells you that and that makes it exciting. I think Australians tend to play well here. You know, obviously they lost to India recently at this venue, so that proves it's not impossible to beat Australia. But we know to be able to do that, we're going to have to be able to perform close to our best. I think as a side we focus a lot on ourselves. You know the opposition are a fantastic team but we know if we bring our A game, we're going to be there, or thereabouts."

Australia's players will also be keen to ease the burden on new captain Pat Cummins as the hosts hope to show their series-deciding loss to India at the Gabba in January was an aberration. Cummins said he would lean heavily on vice-captain Steve Smith for tactics and field placements while leading Australia's pace attack.

Cummins says, "Yeah, I feel in a really good place. I always say I like to be underdone more than overdone going into a test series. Body feels great. We've had probably about four or five centre wickets whilst we've been up here in Queensland over the last few weeks and just feel in a really good place. Yeah, all the quicks are bowling really well. Got enough overs under our belt but feel really fresh and no niggles or anything heading into the first test."

Australia have not played a test since the 2-1 defeat to India.