Still some time to go before the Ashes but heres my 2 cents worth.
Hughes
Katich
Ponting
Clarke
Hussey
North
Haddin
Johnson
Lee
Siddle
Clark
I like the look of this team, specially the bowling attack. No spinner but I think we should just pick the best 4 bowlers in the country with North bowling few overs as well*. If Clark is back to full fitness he will own Cook,Flintoff and Collingwood IMO. All 3 of them have trouble playing balls just outside the off stump and Clark can put the ball there all day along. I have a feeling that they wont enjoy facing Siddle either. But again the key will be Johnson , there will be few nervous Englishmen after watching Mitch destroy the saffers. We need Mitch to really get stuck in to KP and intimidate him from ball 1. He doesn't enjoy facing really quick bowlers. MJ vs KP battle is going to awesome...
*A spinner should come in for Lee if the pitch is really helping the slow bowlers. I think McGain should get another go but I happy with Hauritz for now. Hes not a game breaker but he will do a job for the team. Hilfy will do well in English conditions but at this stage of his career I dont think he can more than Lee. I know Lee hasn't done much in the last 6 months but his experience will be vital for this young attack. He is a pretty handy 4th bowling option anyway.
Looking at the batting , our middle order look little brittle with punter and huss bit out of form. Clarke can be little hit or miss as well but all 3 of them are TOP CLASS players so I expect them to step up. They all love playing against poms as well (who doesn't). If these 3 players play well we will win , no ifs or buts about that. I expect Hughes and Katich to get us off to good starts. Lot of pressure on young Hughes with all the media hype but it wouldnt bother him one little bit.Having North at 6 will shore up the batting if we have any wobbles in the top order.
Its an absolute bonus to have Haddin and MJ at 7 and 8 though, if the top & middle order get amongst runs these 2 have the fire power to destroy the bowling. They also have the technique to rebuild the innings if we are in real strife. Haddin and Johnson combined can do the job Gilly has been doing so well over the years. Lee , Siddle and Clark are pretty handy tail enders (if you can call them that) so the lower order batting depth is just insane. English bowlers will have to work extra hard if they want to get 20 wickets.
Australia are clearly the better team IMO so if everyone is fit and firing we should be able to get the job done. We cant take anything for granted , England will put up a spirited fight no doubt and they have some good players in that team. But I think we just have that extra class to get the chocolates. All in all it will be a ripper series.
Australia to win 3-1. Johnson for MOTS.
