Ashes Buzz

Test players who are dropped, as Geraint Jones finally was in August, are traditionally told to go away and get some runs in domestic cricket. Jones hasn’t. He is still painfully out of form with the bat, and his batting is what he was picked for – Chris Read, despite a tendency to leave too much to first slip, is a far more natural keeper, and his ability to standard up to medium pace could make Jon lewis and even Matthew Hoggard more potent.

If Jones is named in the squad this afternoon, it will be because he is a Fletcher favourite, althugh also, to be fair, because he made a vital 80 in England’s last victory over Australia. James Foster of Essex, a spirited cricketer who has already been on an Ashes tour and played a Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, has stronger credentials.

Ashley Giles’ long-running groin injury turned into a blessing in disguise for England, enabling them to unearth Monty Panesar, who is already a better bowler, even though he is ten years younger. Monty played as the sole spinner all summer, but a second one is needed for Australia, to play one, two, or, at a pinch, three Tests.

Shane Warne has said that he would pick both Giles and Panesar. It’s an appealing prospect: one can bat a bit, field well and bore the odd batsman out from over the wicket, and the other can take out top players with his orthodox ripper. They are both slow left-armers, but there the resemblance ends; as when Langer and Hayden open the batting together, what looks like a duplication would actually be a study in contrasts. But Giles has been out all year, and punts are already being taken on Flintoff and possibly Trescothick: can England afford another? Wouldn’t they be better off with Jamie Dalrymple, who has shown plenty of Giles-like grit in his first two one-day series?

Before the last Ashes, England dumped their only veteran, Graham Thorpe, in favour of youth, fresh legs and unscarred psyches. But they still had Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Flintoff, who were, or should have been, mid-way through their Test careers. Right now, they have none of those three. Their replacements have done well, but the senior batsman is Andrew Strauss, after only two and half years in international cricket, and the struggles of Ian Bell in 2005 were a painful illustration of what can happen when a young batsman is thrown in at the deep end. Bell is a better, stronger, bigger player now, but Alastair Cook could be this year’s Bell.

England are in danger of gambling on Trescothick’s health because they are desperate to have his experience. They would do better to take a senior player as the spare batsman: either Mark Butcher or Mark Ramprakash. Butcher will fit in easily, as a member of the successful team of 2004, and can be the third opener that every squad needs. Ramprakash, always effective against Australia and now in the form of his life, may bring more runs.

Tomorrow the England selectors sit down, for the first time in 20 years, to pick a tour party to retain the Ashes. Even with all the injuries, most of the 16 pick themselves – Strauss, Cook, Pietersen, Collingwood, Bell, Flintoff, Read, Hoggard, Harmison and Panesar are certainties. The other six places are the ones that will dominate the conversation. Here are the dilemmas David Graveney, Geoff Miller and Duncan Fletcher must resolve, starting with the captaincy.

This is as close as captaincy ever gets to a 50-50 decision. Andrew Strauss has won a series, has captained a county, is usually fit, doesn’t bowl, and is a Fletcher man. He is calm, thoughtful, educated and has made the most of limited talent. But he hasn’t captained England on tour or played a Test in Australia.

Marcus Trescothick is suffering from what the England hierarchy call “a stress-related illness”. He has only recently come to terms with his diagnosis and is still in mid-treatment. Can the selectors risk him? They have accepted that they can’t for the Champions Trophy in October, and I don’t see how they can for the Ashes in November. If Trescothick was in top form, it might be worth the risk, but he isn’t, and wasn’t last time round in Australia (average 26, top score 72). The management just can’t be confident that he will be up to it.

England will miss his genial solidity, his big hands at first slip and his ball-polishing skills more than his batting in its current distracted state. The one-day team perked up immediately when he stepped down, and there are ready-made replacements for him in Tests – Alastair Cook can open, Flintoff should be back at slip. Trescothick needs a break. Give the poor man the rest of the year off and tell him to come back refreshed for the one-day marathon that runs from January to April.

September 6

Marcus Trescothick has the distinction, possibly unique in a major England career, of never once being dropped. So occasionally it falls to him to drop himself. The selectors, apparently, were planning to include him in the squad for the Champions Trophy in India, even though he has been batting like a lost soul. Not since Graham Thorpe was going through a bitter custody battle in 2002 has an England player been so visibly adrift. He is surely right to take a break and put his health first.

England’s home season is over. The Aussies have emerged from their boot camp. England’s squad is being finalised. They may even have decided who their captain is to be. It’s Ashes time again.

There are not many five-Test series left in cricket, and this is the oldest and biggest of them. Last time round, in the pulsating English summer of 2005, it was also the best. After 15 years of anticlimax, it was once again a contest between the world’s top two teams – and after an amazing sequence of cliffhangers, the second-best proved a touch too good for the best. It was David v Goliath with a lot more suspense.

So now the expectations are even higher. Every ticket is sold, even for the great modern coliseum at Melbourne. As the hype threatens to boil over, Ashes Buzz will keep a cool eye on what’s happening, covering everything from Flintoff’s fitness to McGrath’s predictions, from England's balance to Australia's ageing. Got the fever? Here’s the medicine. Take two or three paragraphs, several times a week.