Australia opt for Lee as England delay selection

Nasser Hussain's response to adversity is in keeping with the plain-speaking manner that he has maintained for more than three-and-a-half years since he was appointed England captain. Insisting that his team will give the third Test their best shot when it starts in Perth tomorrow despite being two-nil down, he showed no indication that he is anything other than focussed on the job.

"People rely on me, the team relies on me as captain," Hussain said. "A lot of people want us to do well, whether they are supporters out here or back in England. I don't think it would do anyone any good for me to keep losing my rag. I think they want a cool captain and a cool team to do the disciplines right."

Hussain's words should have reassured those whose faith in him appeared to be wavering. Whether he was bothering to respond to Merv Hughes, who earlier this week offered the nonsensical suggestion that he should stand down at the point when England need him most, is a moot point. Obviously missing the lapsed opportunity to call England's batsmen lavatorial names in the middle, Hughes is contenting himself with sledging from the sidelines.

While England will delay naming their final eleven until tomorrow morning, giving Andrew Caddick as much time as possible to prove his fitness, Australia have once again showed their capacity for ruthless selection, omitting the estimable Andy Bichel in favour of the quicker Brett Lee.

Since suffering a back spasm in the latter stages of the Adelaide Test, Caddick has had two injections to aid his recovery, and bowled normally in the nets at the WACA this morning. But he has to pass further tests before England are confident of including him.

"Caddick is still going through a bit of a trial and will be coming down to bowl this afternoon and we want to see how he reacts to that," explained coach Duncan Fletcher today.

"It's encouraging by what we saw of him this morning, but that can be misleading and that's a decision we have to make - we have to make sure there aren't any niggles arising as he cools down. We may even want to see him have another bowl in the morning before the Test before we make our decision."

If Caddick fails to come through it could mean a reprieve for Matthew Hoggard, who has only taken one wicket in the first two Tests. Alex Tudor's four for 89 on his debut at the WACA four years ago will enhance his claims, but Chris Silverwood could get the nod to partner Steve Harmison by virtue of his extra pace. Nor have England ruled out playing off-spinner Richard Dawson, despite the nature of the pitch.

"The dilemma we've got at the moment is that we don't know what pace attack we're going to be going in with," admitted Fletcher. "We need to know what bowlers we've got available to us."

Hampshire's John Crawley has failed to recover from the thigh injury that ruled him out at Adelaide, but Michael Vaughan is fit to play despite concerns about his right knee and shoulder, which was hit by a Jason Gillespie bouncer. Should England decide to play seven batsmen it will therefore mean a Test debut for Durham's Paul Collingwood.

The pace of the Perth pitch undoubtedly influenced Australia's decision to unleash their quickest bowler on England. Although Bichel made a handsome contribution to convincing victories in Brisbane and Adelaide, the selectors have recalled the express Lee to replace him at the WACA. Dropped before the start of the Ashes series after disappointing in Sharjah against Pakistan, Lee has taken 21 wickets in two state matches for New South Wales.

"The idea was to go for extra pace here in Perth - it's as simple as that," explained captain Steve Waugh. "Andy's done well and done nothing wrong and played some excellent cricket, but it came down to who's going to bowl quickest and Brett got the nod.

"Brett's record at the WACA would have helped although I don't know how big an influence it would have had on selection, but he certainly bowled very quickly here a couple of years ago. He's got good memories here of when he's bowled and the pace of the wicket here definitely helps him.

"He can bowl quick, he's raring to go and he's that keen to get stuck in so it's not going to be easy, but I'm sure there's some English bowlers who are dying to get stuck into us and that's the way it should be in Test match cricket."

Meanwhile opener Matthew Hayden passed a fitness test this morning, confirming his recovery from two haemorrhoid operations last weekend.