Oz Ashes squad announced

[suthol]

Doesn't look too bad at all, bad luck Doug Bollinger but the seam bowling options look pretty strong.

I suspect if Watson is unfit Symonds will come in.

Ricky Ponting (c) - TAS, 34
Michael Clarke (vc) - NSW, 28
Stuart Clark - NSW, 33
Brad Haddin - NSW, 31
Nathan Hauritz - NSW, 27
Ben Hilfenhaus - TAS, 26
Phillip Hughes - NSW, 20
Michael Hussey - WA, 33
Mitchell Johnson - WA, 27
Simon Katich - NSW, 33
Brett Lee - NSW, 32
Graham Manou - SA, 30
Andrew McDonald - VIC, 27
Marcus North - WA, 29
Peter Siddle - VIC, 24
Shane Watson* - QLD, 27

• Subject to fitness

[Diablo SVTT]

I'm not surprised Watson was chosen ahead of Symonds for obvious reasons but the squad is pretty good. I think England are gonna have to produce something immense to prevent Ponting winning his first Ashes series in England as captain.

I don't think 2005 is going to be relived in the result but I hope its just as enjoyable as a contest.

My prediction:

Aus 3-1 England

[captainzep]

Think it depends a lot on the pitches. If we're producing spinner-friendly surfaces (as Cardiff is rumoured to be) then the Aussie middle-lower order might struggle.

I think the Aussie seamers will need to hit a good length/rhythm early on too.

That said, England have the weaker squad.

I'm not going to predict a result.

[johnfm]

As in 2005, if England bowlers hit an unrivalled purple patch of reverse swing bowling, they will win.

I will be surprised if they can produce such bowling again. IMHO 2005 was a freak event re: reverse swing.

If they cannot, I don't think ANderson, Onions and Bresnan (or Sidebottom) and Swann( or Monty) can do it.

[suthol]

johnfm said:

As in 2005, if England bowlers hit an unrivalled purple patch of reverse swing bowling, they will win.

I will be surprised if they can produce such bowling again. IMHO 2005 was a freak event re: reverse swing.

If they cannot, I don't think ANderson, Onions and Bresnan (or Sidebottom) and Swann( or Monty) can do it.

Aren't minties banned now;)

Edited to add, of that lot Anderson bowled very well against the Windies who unfortunately played like they didn't want to be there.

Edited by suthol on Wednesday 20th May 13:27

[hornetrider]

I'm clearly no expert on Aussie cricket but it's been a long time since I've seen a squad come over here with so many names unknown to me. There's 4 or 5 in there I don't recognise.

[DJC]

Well the Aussie main line batting unit of Ponting, Hussey and Katich is strong. Hughes has just had a stonking start to the season at Middlesex so his eye is in for English conditions and it is the strength of that batting line up that worries me. Johnson, Lee and Clark are going to be their main strike bowling force and whilst Clarke is a good line and length bowler he doesnt have the mystique of Mcgrath and none of them are Warne. Far more importantly Haddin aint no Gilchrist!

[unrepentant]

For the first time in a generation the Aussies come here without a world class spin bowler. They also come here without McGrath, Langer, Hayden and Gilchrist. Our batting line up is starting to look very solid, to the extent that the only weak link of late has been KP. He can put his feet up whilst we play the ODI's against the Windies and hopefully get himself in the right frame of mind for the convicts. If we can just get Flintoff fit - we need his bowling - and keep him fit I really fancy us to do well.

[suthol]

DJC said:

Well the Aussie main line batting unit of Ponting, Hussey and Katich is strong. Hughes has just had a stonking start to the season at Middlesex so his eye is in for English conditions and it is the strength of that batting line up that worries me. Johnson, Lee and Clark are going to be their main strike bowling force and whilst Clarke is a good line and length bowler he doesnt have the mystique of Mcgrath and none of them are Warne. Far more importantly Haddin aint no Gilchrist!

I would have thought that Clarke could bat a bit and Clark bowled line and length but there ya go, what would a convict know.;)

I'd be surprised if the seam attack for the first test includes Clark, Johnson, Siddle and Hilfenhaus all bowled very well against SA and do move the ball in the air which Clark rarely does.
Haddin has been a solid bat for NSW and Oz but isn't as explosive as Gilly could be but is probably more likely to be consistent, Johnson can also bat a bit.

The mystique of McGrath and Warne is a huge loss and we certainly don't have a world class spinner, and quite frankly your guys didn't against WI, Swann got most of his wickets with poor shots played to straight breaks he hardly turned a ball.

Lee could be a bolter but for him to play I think McDonald would be dropped leaving Haddin, Johnson and Lee as capable all rounders.

[DJC]

Clark/Clarke whatever :P

I am quite impressed at the all round abilities of your lower order bowlers. I remain to be convinced about Hilfy and Johnson in the long run of Test cricket. I see nothing in them that special, so with a bit of judicious use of intelligence the batting shouldnt collapse against them. Unfortunately England can manage a batting collapse against most village teams

And you can say what you like about Haddin...he aint no Gilchrist and Gilly was arguably the greatest of your all rounders. Ive watched that man destroy England more times than I care to remember. He could turn a test and a series on its head quicker than any other batsman Ive seen...and I think that includes Viv!

[captainzep]

I'm increrasingly starting to get a bit of 1989 feel about this series.

The Aussies had quite a new team then (Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Ian Healy etc) -and Trevor Hohns certainly wasn't the world's best spinner, but they still trounced us.

I think England management/selection policy is far better these days, but a couple of series-long breakout performances from the new Aussie players could spell trouble for England.

[unrepentant]

Look at the batting averages of the England top order. Not since the days of the 3G's have we had all our top batters averaging over 40. Atherton, Hussain and Stewart all missed that mark. At one time in that era we didn't have any batsmen averaging the benchmark.

Strauss 43.96
Cook 45.02
Bopara 49.62 (or Bell 40.59)
Pietersen 50.49
Collingwood 44.20
Prior 48.40

I think our batters will perform well, they are all in form except KP and he will be up for it when the convicts arrive. With Prior at 6, Fred at 7, Broad at 8 and Swann at 9 it's a long line up too. The bowlers are more of an issue but I fancy Anderson and Broad to do well, Onions looks to be useful and if Fred is back we're rolling. Add Swanny and Monty and if everyone is fit we can poll 5 from 6 and have an attack that is capable of taking 20 wickets, especially in English conditions.