JACK Haynes will make his senior red-ball debut for Worcestershire against Australia with the chance to stake a claim to be involved for the rest of the season.

Haynes has impressed for the seconds and most recently for England under 19s in the Tri-Series.

He is part of the strongest available side fielded by the County for the three-day fixture beginning on Wednesday at Blackfinch New Road (11am).

First-team coach Alex Gidman said: “Jack is an exciting player. He is still very young but very mature and level-headed in his approach to cricket.

“He has just finished school but his experiences with the England under 19s have put him in the frame.

"I have spoken to their coach Jon Lewis and he is very supportive of what we are doing.

“It is a great opportunity as with a couple of others who are playing to stake a claim for the first team for the rest of the season.

“It is the start of the final red-ball leg of the season.

"I have talked about people performing in the second team and Alex (Milton) has got two hundreds in the last three games, Felly (Tom Fell) has done well in white-ball cricket and Josh (Dell) has got a few runs.”

Milton will take over behind the stumps from Ben Cox who is being rested along with all-rounder Ed Barnard after a heavy stint of cricket even though both were keen to play.

Opener Daryl Mitchell (injury) and all-rounder Wayne Parnell (chest infection) are ruled out.

Paceman Josh Tongue returns to first-team action for the first time since late May after suffering a nerve tissue injury in his upper arm.

Gidman said: “It is as strong a team as we could put out and it’s a great occasion for the club. To have one of the best international teams here for three days is really exciting.

“It is a really good opportunity for all of us — coaches and players — to watch, play against and to learn from them and really enjoy the experience.

“Whatever team Australia put out I know our guys will be really excited about the opportunity to play against them.

“The expectation levels have to be realistic from the guys.

"It’s more about testing themselves, going through the experience, learning from it and having a really good idea of where they are at compared to the best in the world.

“It will be a great learning experience and hopefully prove a huge amount of motivation for whoever plays to try and reach those levels one day.”

Club captain Joe Leach says the County players will relish the opportunity to face “some of the best players in the world”.

Australia are on the crest of a wave after completing a first Test victory over England at Edgbaston.

Three of the victorious side in Steve Smith (2011), Nathan Lyon (2017) and Travis Head (2018) all played for the County.

Batting coach Graeme Hick is a County legend with more than 100 first-class hundreds for the club.

Leach said: “It should be a nice occasion for the club but also for the fans to see the Australians in action.

“It is a fixture steeped in history. You hear the stories about Sir Don Bradman coming here and doing well and the 1989 Worcestershire team which came out on top.

“For our guys it’s a chance they will have to pit themselves against some of the best players in the world.

“It’s also a nice opportunity to catch up with some old friends in the form of Nathan and Travis from recent years.

“But I know Steve played with a few of the guys as well when he was here.

“When you see the guys who have missed out on the Edgbaston Test it does make it possibly an even bigger spectacle.

“We’ve had South Africa, Australia and Pakistan in recent years and they’ve all put out good sides.”

Worcestershire: Fell, Dell, Ferguson, Haynes, Wessels, Rhodes, Milton, Leach, Tongue, Morris, Finch.