Ashes 2019: Australia announces squad for the high-octane England series, list here

While England are playing a one-off Test against Ireland, rivals Australia announced their squad for the upcoming Ashes series. With Tim Paine leading from the front as skipper, the side featured seasoned Test players such as Nathan Lyon, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith, David Warner among other players. 

Here's the squad announced:

The banned trio get a new life

Cameron Bancroft, David Warner, and Steven Smith, all three have been included in Australia's 17 man squad for the Ashes series against England. All three players were suspended due to the Sandpaper gate controversy that happened in South Africa series last year. 

Cameron Bancroft was in the line of fire after he was caught on cameras trying to tamper with the ball using sandpaper during the third Test between South Africa and Australia earlier this year in March.

What followed was chaos and shame for Australian cricket. Then Australian skipper Steven Smith and vice-captain David Warner were also found to be involved in the scandal, and hefty sanctions followed.

In a need to make a statement that cheating is unpardonable, Cricket Australia handed one-year bans to Smith and Warner, while Bancroft was given a nine-month ban. Though, it was yet to be clear that who took the call to tamper with the ball.

The culprit behind the scandal had been revealed, and Bancroft was the one to open up about it. The Australian opener had revealed that it was Warner who had given the idea to use sandpaper and tamper with the ball.

"Dave suggested to me to carry the action out on the ball given the situation we were in the game and I didn't know any better. I didn't know any better because I just wanted to fit in and feel valued really. As simple as that. he decision was based around my values, what I valued at the time, and I valued fitting in ... you hope that fitting in earns you respect and with that, I guess, there came a pretty big cost for the mistake," he said.

The Ashes series is set to commence from 1 August at Edgbaston, Birmingham. 

Test Squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathon Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.