Tim Nielsen, the Australian coach, has described fast bowler Peter Siddle as a "lock" to partner Mitchell Johnson in the first Ashes Test

A flat final-day performance has given Ricky Ponting few signposts as to the composition of his best attack

Phillip Hughes and Ricky Ponting made amends for modest first-innings returns with polished half-centuries, but Australia's optimism was somewhat tempered by a shaky middle-order display against Sussex's slow bowlers

The odds of Australia fielding an all-pace attack for the first Test shortened after Nathan Hauritz struggled