Australians break with tradition in Ashes selections

Two reserve middle order batsmen; no third opener; only one wicketkeeper. It's a curious balance but it's one that Australia's national selectors clearly believe will produce a sixth consecutive Ashes series win over England.

In support of a long-standing convention, the four-man panel headed by Trevor Hohns has elected to resist an apparently powerful urge to cut the size of the party to a number lower than sixteen.

But it has opted to make a decisive break with tradition on at least two other fronts in the formulation of its 2001 Ashes squad.

For the first time in twenty-four years, the Australians have chosen to select just two specialist opening batsmen in a squad bound for England, a decision made all the more surprising by the faltering form of the team's upper order in recent times.

And, for the first time in Ashes history since 1961 - when the honours were left solely to the legendary Wally Grout - the Australians will not be taking a second specialist wicketkeeper with them overseas.

Matthew Hayden was the undisputed star of the recent Test and one-day international series in India but consistency in recent times has proved a significantly more elusive commodity for fellow opener Michael Slater and number three batsman, Justin Langer.

Slater, the aggressive right hander from New South Wales, has been a permanent fixture in Australian sides for the last three years but his continuing hold on a berth in the eleven had been perceived to be under threat following a period during which he has scored only one century from his last twenty-nine Test innings.

After a brilliant run of success in the preceding year, Langer has also shown recent signs of vulnerability. The diminutive left hander has averaged less than thirty in his past two series and has been made to struggle against both pace and spin-based attacks.

In that context, it was rumoured that selectors Allan Border, Andrew Hilditch, David Boon and Hohns might have been tempted to bolster the squad's top order by calling upon further personnel. They opted against such a policy, however.

That makes the selection a particularly cruel one for Tasmanian captain Jamie Cox, whose 1349 first-class runs in 1996-97 were considered insufficient to win him a place in the 1997 Ashes party and whose 1170 first-class runs and status as Pura Cup Player of the Year for 2000-01 have failed to win him the nod again.

After similarly prolific seasons, Greg Blewett, Martin Love and Jimmy Maher will all join Cox in county ranks this northern summer. Like him, they will hope that impressive performances in that arena might change the selectors' thinking if replacement players are needed.

For now, it's Western Australian middle order player Simon Katich - long earmarked as a future Test star - who has won the extra batting place on offer. He will join state teammate Damien Martyn as the pair of players expected to exert pressure on the six batsmen presently ahead of them in the battle for Test batting berths.

Honouring public statements made by Hohns in the lead-up to today's announcement of respective Test and one-day international squads, the nation's selectors have also anointed vice-captain Adam Gilchrist as the tourists' only specialist gloveman. Potentially, this leaves him with the task of 'keeping in all five Tests, at least six one-day internationals, and nine other tour matches.

In the event that Gilchrist needs to be rested, it is likely that New South Wales wicketkeeper Brad Haddin will be summoned from the confines of league cricket in England to fill the breach. But that represents a significant departure from past practice. Australia's last ten tours of the United Kingdom - with the exception of the brief visit for the one-off Centenary Test of 1980 - have all been marked by the presence of at least two state wicketkeepers.

Among the players in the two squads (one of which will participate in a three-cornered series of one-day internationals with England and Pakistan and the other of which will meet England in five Tests), none is a complete newcomer to Australian teams. Katich has only played in a single one-day international match but has previously toured Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and was considered to be close to winning a spot in the Test team on the first of those two trips before succumbing to chickenpox.

Despite a 2-1 Test series loss last month in India, the majority of players who participated on that tour have retained their places. Like Cox, leg spinner Stuart MacGill's claims have been resisted and it will be the combination of leg spin and off spin provided by Shane Warne and Colin Miller that will again form the core of Australia's slow bowling on tour. It is likely that Warne will be among the eleven players who take the field at Edgbaston - the scene of some of his most memorable triumphs - for the First Test, which starts on 5 July.

The only omission from the Test squad which toured India is fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz, his spot having been assumed by the now injury-free Brett Lee. Lee returns to front a strong pace bowling division which also includes Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Damien Fleming and surprise choice Nathan Bracken. Against a country which has struggled consistently in Ashes meetings over the past twelve years, Lee's hostility is expected to play a major role in determining the outcome of the series.

In the fourteen-strong one-day squad, there are few surprises. South Australia's Darren Lehmann, perennially in and out of favour with the selectors, has been axed from the limited-overs squad which toured India, as has late replacement Shane Lee. Otherwise, it is a largely predictable squad with seven batsmen and five bowlers chosen and a heavy accent placed on the all-round talents of many of the players.

Australia's one-day international campaign will begin against Pakistan at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on 9 June. The Test at Edgbaston, meanwhile, will be the first of a five-match series that culminates at The Oval in late August.