Australia’s top cricketers will face each other in a four-day intra-squad clash; their final warm-up before the first Ashes Test begins on 1st August.

Injured Usman Khawaja was a notable absentee from the star-studded teams picked by Australia’s batting coach Graeme Hick and fielding mentor Brad Haddin.

Pat Cummins, who will line up for the Haddin XII, said he was looking forward to playing his best red-ball compatriots.

“It’ll definitely get the adrenaline up like in a Test match,” Cummins said.

“It doesn’t happen too often – you’ll see our egos be put to the test, we’ll be going at each other I think.”

The Hick XII’s Jackson Bird joked that it was also an opportunity to settle some differences within the squad.

“Usually after a few weeks on tour a few blokes will cop it from other blokes, airing their grievances over the tour,” the fast bowler said.

“You don’t usually get to do things like this, so I think everyone is looking forward to it.”

The clash will be at Ageas Bowl from July 23-26, with Australia’s Ashes squad set to be named at the end of the encounter.

THE TEAMS

Hick XII: Joe Burns, Cameron Bancroft, Steve Smith, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (c, wk), Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Jackson Bird, Chris Tremain, Nathan Lyon

Haddin XII: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Kurtis Patterson, Travis Head (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Will Pucovski, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Peter Siddle, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland

-AAP