VIDEO SHOWS: CRICKET AUSTRALIA CHAIRMAN OF SELECTORS GEORGE BAILEY AT NEWS CONFERENCE / FORMER AUSTRALIAN CRICKETER STEVE WAUGH DELIVERING THE ASHES MCC WATERFORD CRYSTAL TROPHY / SOUNDBITES FROM BAILEY AND WAUGH RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (NOVEMBER 5, 2025) (SEVEN NETWORK – Broadcast: No use Australia. Digital: No use Australia / .com.au internet sites / any internet site of any Australia based media organisations or mobile platforms / Australian NVO clients / smh.com.au / news.com.au) 1. THE ASHES MCC WATERFORD CRYSTAL TROPHY BEING CARRIED AND HANDED TO AUSTRALIAN FORMER CRICKETER STEVE WAUGH / WAUGH CARRYING TROPHY TO AND PLACING IT ON STAND 2. TROPHY AND WAUGH AT SYDNEY CRICKET GROUND 3. HELICOPTER PARKED ON FIELD / MR. URN MASCOT , TROPHY AND WAUGH AT SYDNEY CRICKET GROUND GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA (NOVEMBER 5, 2025) (AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION – Broadcast: No use Australia. Digital: No use Australia / .com.au internet sites / any internet site of any Australia based media organisations or mobile platforms / Australian NVO clients / smh.com.au / news.com.au) 4. CRICKET AUSTRALIA CHAIRMAN OF SELECTORS GEORGE BAILEY WALKING INTO NEWS CONFERENCE 5. WHITE FLASH 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CRICKET AUSTRALIA CHAIRMAN OF SELECTORS, GEORGE BAILEY, SAYING: "I think we got 14 out of that 15-man squad playing round four (of Australia's Sheffield Shield league). Still some information to gather out of that. Cameron Green being one, returning to the bowling crease, so that'll be good. So no that's the squad, we'll work through the 11 as we get closer. And then what's impressed me, us about Jake (Weatherald) I think if you look at his performance over 18, 24 months it's been really solid and then there's a method there that I think is, that we like and is complementary to those other players around him in the squad. You know, scores at a good rate, the way he goes about building his innings and it's been impressive." 7. WHITE FLASH 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CRICKET AUSTRALIA CHAIRMAN OF SELECTORS, GEORGE BAILEY, SAYING (WHEN ASKED ABOUT CAMERON GREEN): "It'd be great to see (him bowling), because that's his skill set, isn't it? So if someone's an all-rounder, you want them to be able to, in an ideal world, to be capable of performing their skills. So it's a nice piece of the puzzle, but if it's not the case, then it ends up being another test, and that's okay. We'll work through it." 9. WHITE FLASH 10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CRICKET AUSTRALIA CHAIRMAN OF SELECTORS, GEORGE BAILEY, SAYING: "I feel for Sammy (Konstas) because I think at the moment, if he farts, it's a headline. There's a handful of young guys his age playing shield cricket around the country, and they're all learning, and they're all going through a journey of becoming the best cricketer they can be. And Sammy is no different to that. He just happens to be doing it under what seems to be immense scrutiny at the moment. We really like him, the investment. He's been in and around Boxing Day tests, he's been on subcontinent tours, he's been on MRF tours, Aussie A tours. We like the skill set there and confident that over, the over the long run, it will continue to build out. It's not going to be linear. No one's passage through their career is linear. But the message is just to keep it simple and score runs and bat for as long and as helpful way as you can for New South Wales." 11. WHITE FLASH 12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CRICKET AUSTRALIA CHAIRMAN OF SELECTORS, GEORGE BAILEY, SAYING (WHEN ASKED ABOUT MARNUS LABUSCHAGNE): "We obviously made the decision to leave him out of the team in the West Indies, he was still part of the squad. What we've seen is runs time at the crease. I think there's an energy, and a method that I think is really attractive. But as to the actual changes, I mean I think he's spoken to them quite a bit, some of the technical and some of the training and some of the approaches that he's made. At the end of the day, the bit that we like is the runs." SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (NOVEMBER 5, 2025) (SEVEN NETWORK – Broadcast: No use Australia. Digital: No use Australia / .com.au internet sites / any internet site of any Australia based media organisations or mobile platforms / Australian NVO clients / smh.com.au / news.com.au) 13. VARIOUS OF WAUGH WITH TROPHY 14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER AUSTRALIAN CRICKETER, STEVE WAUGH, SAYING: "I feel a little bit sorry for Sam Konstas, he's been in and out of the side a bit and it actually reminds me a bit of myself when I first started palying for Australia. So not fully confident of being in the side and up and down and form a bit not quite there. So he's probably lacking a bit of confidence so I don't think they'll go for him in the first test. Jake Weatherald's has done really well too, he's probably deserves a spot but I think that combination at the top, Australia will play it pretty safe particularly for the first test match of an Ashes series." 15. WAUGH WITH TROPHY STORY: Young opener Sam Konstas has been dropped from Australia's squad for the Ashes, opening the door for uncapped Jake Weatherald to make a test debut in the five-match series against England, the Chairman of Selectors announced on Wednesday (November 5). Konstas, 20, misses out after a poor tour with the bat in the West Indies, while Weatherald has been included after topping the Sheffield Shield runs list in 2024/25 and starting the new season with three half-centuries. Bailey said he felt for Konstas, who has been in the spotlight since scoring 60 on his debut against India in the Boxing Day test in Melbourne last year. However, he was on shaky ground after managing only 163 runs in his first five tests at an average of 16.30, and was unable to mount a convincing case for his retention in domestic cricket. "I think at the moment, if he farts, it's a headline… But the message is just to keep it simple and score runs and bat for as long and as helpful way as you can for New South Wales", said Bailey. Top-order batter Marnus Labuschagne was recalled in the 15-man squad after starting the domestic season with five centuries in a major return to form. Finding a long-term replacement for opener David Warner has been a vexed question for selectors, and chairman George Bailey said they wanted more data from domestic matches before settling on a starting 11 and a batting order. Much will depend on whether all-rounder Cameron Green can prove his fitness to bowl with a decent spell in the next Shield round. Steve Smith will captain the side for at least the first test in Perth, starting on November 21, due to Pat Cummins's back injury. The Ashes Test begins in Perth on November 21. (Production: Stefica Bikesh)
(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
