My XIs for Brisbane
I think Australia's XI should be Langer, Hayden, Ponting, Hussey, Martyn, Watson, Gilchrist, Warne, Lee, Johnson & McGrath.
I don't think McGrath is completely fit for a test match. So Australia will need overs from Watson and that means Clarke misses out. I'd pick Johnson ahead of Bracken and Clark because at Brisbane, Johnson's extra pace is more useful than Bracken's swing and Clark's control.
I'll echo Geoff's picks now that Jones has replaced Read, thanks to Fletcher's intervention.
However, I suspect that Giles will play, especially now that Trescothick is on the plane home,
Over to the rest of you!
Labels: ashes, ashes 2006
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I'm going to regret saying this, but I'll say it anyway: I will be a happy man in the Australians pick Watson.
I like Giles, but England should pick Panesar because he will bowl more overs. That he will take more wickets is also important, but overs are key. Of the quicks, only Andrew Flintoff could reasonably be described as a containing bowler (Matthew Hoggard has a worse economy and better strike rate than Harmison, so he's clearly a strike bowler), and he's not fully fit. Even when fully fit, Ashley Giles is mostly a fill-in bowler. Monty is the kind of spinner who can bowl all day, like a Kaneria or a Kumble or a Warne - although obviously they're better bowlers than him, it's the same principle.
Andrew Strauss is surely a ready-made sounding board, and presumably that's partly why Geraint Jones is to be picked. I also think England could do worse than to pick Hoggard's brains more often.
Interesting stat about Brisbane: Shane Warne's record there is better than anywhere else in Australia. Just another reason to pick Monty.begt
By 
Geoff (15 Nov 2006, 2:32:00 pm)
geoff: I suspect Watson wouldn't be in the picture had McGrath not been out of the picture for ~ a year. Australia need the extra seamer as insurance. I'm unsure if McGrath will be able to bowl something like 15-20 overs a day (although I do hope he only has to bowl a dozen across both innings as England get knocked over for 100 each time!). That's why Watson would be picked. Yes, Warne's best numbers in Australia are at Brisbane. But that success is pretty sporadic (30 in his first 3 tests there, in between 5-6 barren seasons, and then 13 in his last 2). So I wouldn't read too much into it.
By Jagadish (16 Nov 2006, 12:27:00 am)
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