Shane Watson’s replacement by Michael Clarke, and the Ian Bell injury that finally settled Ashley Giles’s selection over Monty Panesar as England’s spinner, makes the Test series opening at the Gabba tomorrow all the more like a direct sequel to the 2005 blockbuster.
Assuming that Bell is risked after badly bruising his left wrist when batting in the nets against James Anderson yesterday, only Anderson and Alastair Cook for England, Mike Hussey and Stuart Clark, expected to be preferred to Mitchell Johnson or Shaun Tait for Australia, are new to the cast.
Ed Joyce, called up after Marcus Trescothick’s departure from the tour, is on standby to replace Bell, but if the selectors’ first-choice plays at less than 100 per cent fit, they appear to believe that this necessitates bringing in Giles ahead of Panesar. Giles’s superior batting is deemed more valuable than Panesar’s threatening spin skills.
Bell, assuming he plays, will not be the only England player with a handicap. Matthew Hoggard, the one apparently indestructible member of last year’s Ashes team, has an injury to his right thumb, described as “laxity” or looseness. It must affect his control of the ball, but a team spokesman said that it did not threaten his participation.
Michael Vaughan’s curiously timed arrival in Brisbane seems to bring still closer the final act of the first drama at the Brit Oval only 14 months ago. He is here to continue his recuperation from knee surgery but a team official said that he will take some part in practice with the England team at the Gabba today under the eye of Kirk Russell, the physiotherapist.
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The official line remains that he will not even be considered until he has played some match cricket with England’s shadow team in Perth, so his presence here can only mean that England’s strategists think he will have some psychological impact on the Australians as well as adding inspiration to the touring team in their final planning meetings. Andrew Strauss, the vice-captain, said yesterday: “It would be stupid for us not to use his knowledge. He’s got some forthright views about how it is best to play against Australia.”
There must surely be a danger, though, that he will detract, however unintentionally, from Andrew Flintoff’s independence as the new leader.
Nor is it as if Vaughan’s theories are exactly a secret. Calculated aggression is his mantra: it was when he batted here with such panache and success four years ago — 633 runs and three centuries — and again when he captained in 2005. The aggression came with the bat, especially from Kevin Pietersen; the calculation showed in the way that his bowlers all stuck rigidly to prearranged plans against each of Australia’s batsmen.
One snag for England now is that Simon Jones is missing and although Anderson got reverse swing in the tour match against New South Wales in Sydney, the lush outfield at the Gabba makes that tactic unlikely to be of help. Another is that, if Bell were unable to play, Joyce, having managed only 21 runs in two one-day internationals so far, would be given the almost impossible assignment of making significant runs, on his first Test appearance, on the bounciest pitch in Australia.
It is also significant that Australia, by the recent admission of all their senior players — notably Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne — have used the 12 Tests that they have played since the last Ashes series to try to put right the mistakes made last time. Watson’s hamstring injury means that one plan, the introduction of an all-rounder to give Ponting a fifth regular bowler, will have to wait at least until next week’s second Test in Adelaide. But Clarke, his replacement, made two hard-nosed fifties against England in Sydney that suggested he has thought about his approach since being dropped against West Indies last year.
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Hussey scored his maiden hundred in that game, the second of his 11 Tests, and has not looked back: 1,139 runs at 75. Matthew Hayden has worked hard to overcome his problems in England, making six hundreds in his past 13 Tests, but Justin Langer has not batted for Australia since being hit on the head by Makhaya Ntini in April.
Damien Martyn saved his career with a match-winning century against South Africa in Johannesburg but he has demons to exorcise after averaging only 19 in the last Ashes series. Nor has Gilchrist rediscovered his buccaneering fluency since England attacked him from round the wicket. He averaged below 20 against West Indies and in six Tests against South Africa, but said yesterday that he has worked out how to deal with bowlers coming round the wicket at him, as Flintoff did so effectively last year, and a rapid 150 in a one-day match last week underlines his form.
England will be upsetting odds of 4-9 for Australia if they should win this first Test on a ground where Australia last lost in 1988, to West Indies when they were still cock of the roost. One of their two most likely match-winners, Flintoff or Pietersen, is bound to have to do something special if it is to happen but Bell’s injury, bad enough to require a precautionary X-ray when the top of his hand swelled ominously, Harmison’s lack of bowling — 25 overs on the tour so far — and the disruption to the close fielding positions caused by Trescothick’s return home all add to Australian confidence.
In 2005 the key to England’s success after the defeat at Lord’s in the first Test was the way that everyone contributed something vital at some stage. This time the Ashes will again be won by whichever team elicit vital contributions from everyone in the squad. History could repeat itself in two ways during the next seven weeks. Australia could add to their brilliant record in Brisbane — 12 wins and five draws in their p ast 17 matches — but still not do enough to win the Ashes.
Teams
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Australia (from) R T Ponting (Tasmania, captain), J L Langer (Western Australia), M L Hayden (Queensland), D R Martyn (Western Australia), M E Hussey (Western Australia), M J Clarke (New South Wales), A C Gilchrist (Western Australia, wicketkeeper), S K Warne (Victoria), S R Clark (New South Wales), B Lee (New South Wales), G D McGrath (New South Wales), S Tait (South Australia).
England (from) A Flintoff (Lancashire, captain), A J Strauss (Middlesex), A N Cook (Essex), I R Bell (Warwickshire), P J Collingwood (Durham), K P Pietersen (Hampshire), G O Jones (Kent, wicketkeeper), M J Hoggard (Yorkshire), S J Harmison (Durham), J M Anderson (Lancashire), M S Panesar (Northamptonshire), A F Giles (Warwickshire), E C Joyce (Middlesex).
Umpires S A Bucknor (West Indies) and B F Bowden (New Zealand).
Match referee J J Crowe (New Zealand).
Weather 32C, sunny.
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Television Sky Sports 1, 11pm tonight (live coverage from midnight); highlights 11.30am-2pm, 7.30pm-10pm; Sky Sports 2, 3.30pm-6pm.
Radio Four (198 LW) Live coverage.
Brisbane by the numbers
17.06
Brett Lee’s bowling average at the Gabba. In three Tests he has taken 16 wickets
18
Number of years since Australia were beaten at the Gabba, losing by nine wickets to West Indies in 1988
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20
Years since England’s last victory in Brisbane
64
Shane Warne’s wickets from ten Tests at this ground, at an average of 19.25. In two Tests against England he has taken 15 wickets at 15.06
46.93
Australia’s runs-per-wicket when batting in Tests at the Gabba since 1990
85
Lee’s batting average in Tests at the Gabba. In three innings he has scored two half-centuries
79.20
Matthew Hayden’s batting average in six Tests at the Gabba. Ricky Ponting averages 62.15 and Adam Gilchrist 62.12
Source: Cricinfo