Home crowd could turn on Smith & Co

ONE of the skills of selection is to alleviate pressure from the guys you pick. The Australians have done the opposite. Cameron Bancroft, Shaun Marsh and Tim Paine are decent cricketers, but whereas a week ago all the talk was about how England’s fringe players were going to cope with the Ashes cauldron, that chat has now moved to the Aussies. The Australian public and media get behind their team when it’s going well, but they’re quick to pile in when they’re struggling. And the danger with these selections is that it doesn’t take much for the grumbles to start. That’s why next week’s first Test at the Gabba has now become even more important. If Bancroft nicks one early, or Marsh fails to make the most of his umpteenth call-up, or Paine drops one, they’re immediately going to feel under pressure. It feels as if the selectors have tried to play it safe by going back to Marsh and Paine, and ignored the principle of consistency by dropping Matt Renshaw, whose last Test innings in Australia was 184 against Pakistan. Another area for England to exploit is the balance of the Australia side. They’ve gone for six specialist batsmen and that means more work for their four-man attack. They are fine bowlers, but the three seamers — Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins — have all picked up injuries in the past, so England may target off-spinner Nathan Lyon in an attempt to get Steve Smith to bring his seamers back on. If that happens, and England can rack up some runs, then a four-man attack suddenly looks vulnerable. The bottom line is that this selection has shifted the narrative. It was all about whether this was the worst ever England side to tour Australia. Now the question marks are hanging over the Australians. It does nothing to change my view that England will win the series. History tells you series victories in Australia are like gold dust, but this is not one of their great sides. They shouldn’t scare England — especially now.