Sam Konstas has been dropped and Josh Inglis will make his long-awaited Test debut as Australia bat first in the series opener against Sri Lanka in Galle.

Test great and fellow West Australian Geoff Marsh presented Inglis his cap before Wednesday morning’s toss, with the English-born 29-year-old to bat at No.5 and become Australia’s 470th Test player.

Amid the disappointment of his axing, teenage top-order sensation Konstas was seen congratulating Inglis’ partner, parents and young son at the ground.

Konstas, 19, enjoyed an impressive first two Test matches during the victorious India series but his fate appeared sealed when it was confirmed on Tuesday that Travis Head would shift to the top of the order.

Head averaged 55.75 as an opener on Australia’s last visit to the subcontinent in 2023, while Konstas is embarking on his first Test tour there.

Winning the toss, stand-in captain Steve Smith confirmed Australia would play all three of their front-line off-spinners in Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann, rather than two tweakers and two specialist pacemen.

It means there is no room in the XI for second frontline quick Scott Boland despite his heroics in the series-deciding SCG Test against India earlier this month.

Inglis has been selected as a specialist batter after 55 white-ball appearances for Australia and a long stint in Test squads as back-up wicketkeeper to Alex Carey.

He claimed the middle-order spot ahead of Nathan McSweeney, who had been vying for a recall after playing three Tests out of position as an opener this summer.

Inglis has more top-level experience on Asian wickets than McSweeney, having won the 2023 World Cup in India, and is set to bring similar middle-order aggression to Head.

Sri Lanka have named Oshada Fernando at the top of the batting order as a replacement for Pathum Nissanka, who is expected to recover from a groin injury in time for the second of two Tests.

The result of the toss means Smith has a chance to bring up his 10,000th Test run on the first day of the match after finishing the home summer one run short of the milestone.

Teams

  • AUSTRALIA: Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Josh Inglis, Beau Webster, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann
  • SRI LANKA: Dimuth Karunaratne, Oshada Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhanajaya De Silva (c), Kusal Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando