Pace attack crucial

Aussies to make hard decisions

IF AUSTRALIA are going to win the Ashes, they will have to be as brave off the field as they are on it.

That means occasionally telling senior players things they don’t want to hear when changes based on conditions are necessary.

Darren Lehmann, who coached Australia’s last two Ashes squads in England, does not hesitate when asked what one move Australia has to make if they are to snap their run of four consecutive losing Ashes series in England.

“Getting the right pace attack if the wickets are green,” Lehmann said.

“We need to chop and change our bowling attack depending on conditions.

“If it’s really green, you might play James Pattinson instead of Mitchell Starc for one game, but if it’s at Lord’s, you would go the other way.

“I have said before we should have played Peter Siddle at Trent Bridge on the last tour. That was a mistake.

“Justin Langer will be all over that. I am a big Pattinson fan. I don’t think he can get through five Tests but I still think he can play a big role in the Ashes.”

Pattinson, who must make the squad of 16, looms as the Xfactor who could have a dynamic effect if managed properly.

The fifth fast bowler is set to come from Peter Siddle, Jackson Bird, Chris Tremain and Michael Neser, and a four-day trial next week between two Australian teams in Southampton will be decisive.

Horses for courses is not the traditional Australian way in an Ashes series, but English conditions can vary significantly.

Pattinson has had a troubled time through injury and has played just 17 Tests at age 29, but he is raw and pacy and worth a try on a green deck.

The thought of rotating Starc seems strange but it could well work in his favour if it freshens him up during the compact five Test series.

Since Terry Alderman, bowling his 130km/h wobblers, took 83 wickets on two Ashes tours in the 1980s, Australia have often asked themselves what the perfect style of fast bowler is for English conditions, without settling on the answer. At times, they have tried to blast out the Poms with pure pace.

Yet the records of Mitchell Johnson (38 wickets at 36) and Brett Lee (29 at 45) suggest slow English decks can dull the fast men.

This will be a fascinating Ashes series. Michael Vaughan, who led England to victory in the 2005 Ashes, has watched Australia tumble to losses in England in three series since his triumph but believes Australia are a lot closer to winning in England than England are to winning in Australia.

No one is sure what effect England’s epic World Cup win will have on the players who return to the Test team.

Will they be emotionally supercharged and bulletproof?

Or will they on a high and only be dragged back to earth when Australia surges through their dropped guard?