Strauss wants five-man attack

England skipper hopes to repeat successful Ashes formula from 2005

Last updated: 4th July 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Strauss wants five-man attack

Strauss: pondering options

I like the idea of five bowlers so it depends on conditions whether you play four seamers or two spinners.

Andrew Strauss
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England captain Andrew Strauss is keen to field a five-man bowling attack in the Ashes opener.

The eagerly anticipated series starts in Cardiff on July 8 with the hosts set to name their 13-man squad on Sunday.

National selector Geoff Miller is expected to include the 11 players who featured in the warm-up match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston this week and include a spare batsman and bowler to cover for last-minute injuries.

But whoever is included, England have already revealed they are likely to follow the 2005 blueprint by playing five front-line bowlers to take on Australia.

Under Michael Vaughan's captaincy four years ago, England relied on all-rounder Andrew Flintoff alongside specialist seamers Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Simon Jones while Ashley Giles provided the spin option.

This time England will follow a similar pattern although current captain Strauss is favouring two spinners if conditions suit, as they are expected to do in the Welsh capital.

Conditions

"I like the idea of five bowlers so it depends on conditions whether you play four seamers or two spinners," said Strauss.

"It's very early to say that about five bowlers in every match but if everything goes according to plan we'd like to play five bowlers.

"We're very confident we have two very good spinners. Monty (Panesar) has been away for a while but I still have a huge amount of faith in him and believe he can take wickets at international level and Swanny (Graeme Swann) has had an unbelievable 12 months.

"Put those two together, they're very different styles of bowlers, and if it's turning and offering something for them that's going to be hard work."

Panesar and Swann are expected to claim the two spinner's slots in the squad but there are big discussions planned on the identity of the spare seamer with Durham pair Harmison and Graham Onions competing with Nottinghamshire's Ryan Sidebottom for the final place.

Harmison and Onions have impressed for England Lions against Australia in Worcester while Sidebottom claimed two wickets for Nottinghamshire in the current match against Lancashire at Trent Bridge to give the selectors a tough choice.

Harmison praise

"We know Harmy can do that," added Strauss. "It's great to see him bowling with rhythm and I always think when he's shaping it a bit, that's a good indication that his rhythm is right.

"Yes, he has bowled with rhythm and hostility and we know he can bowl like that. It's fantastic and it certainly gives us more options to think about.

"We've got a few selection headaches. We've got the XI that played against Warwickshire, a few guys in the Lions squad and Ryan Sidebottom who is playing for Notts as well.

"There are a lot of names in the mix but what I like at the moment is we have huge number of differing types of bowlers to pick from. The skiddy, hit-the-wicket bowling that Onions does, hits the stumps.

"You've got Harmison's pace and bounce, Sidebottom's swing, (Tim) Bresnan's swing as well and three spinners. There are a lot of options and I suppose one of the challenges for myself and Andy Flower is to pick the right 11 for the conditions we face."