Australia roll in the heavy artillery

Peter English

Australia's selectors have unveiled their forceful plans to liberate the Ashes urn. Ricky Ponting will have six fast men to choose from for the first Test after he was handed an artillery-laden squad of 13. The heavy-handed approach shouldn't come as a shock - the tactic is currently very trendy among powerful Western leaders - but it's hard to remember even West Indies teams of the 1980s rustling up so much firepower.

While two of the brigade will be surplus to Ponting's requirements in Brisbane next Thursday, the selectors' opening-game intent cannot be misread. The side may be old - only three players are under 30 - but England will have to dodge many speeding bullets to prove last year's 2-1 win was not a one-off. Adam Gilchrist's gloves will be pounded and the visiting batsmen will fidget like secretaries desperate to escape a board meeting.

Merv Hughes, an Australian intimidator of a previous era, was in the MCG room in his role as selector when the squad was announced. The panel wanted flexibility and could barely conceal its glee at having so many quick options. "The inclusion of extra pacemen in the squad reflects one of the strongest starts to the domestic season of young talent in recent memory," Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said. All six bowlers are in form after McGrath, Lee and Watson warmed up in India.

Mitchell Johnson, the soft-talking left-arm golden child, and Shaun Tait, the brash right-arm slinger, were catapulted into the squad and will jostle for the third fast-bowling role with the more calculated Stuart Clark. Whoever wins the appointment after a week of pitch and weather analysis will appear in the slipstream of Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath.

Australian batsmen were desperate for respite from the claustrophobic attack in England and with this collection they have the ability for revenge. And when the three fast men recharge the two Shanes will be deployed. Warne begins the Brisbane Test with 685 Test wickets while Watson is a fifth-choice alternative who delivers in the mid-145kph range. However, these luxuries will also affect the batting.

While Watson can be used for shock or stock value with the ball, his primary duty will be to perform in a middle order that could mimic any England shakes. Watson will form Australia's stomach with Gilchrist, who might be in his final Test series, and Michael Hussey, but each player has ground to conquer. Gilchrist was silenced in 2005 and his off-stump starts to shudder whenever Andrew Flintoff goes around the wicket. Hussey has never played a Test series against England and has considered ways to avoid the second-year blues suffered by the omitted Michael Clarke.

Watson will appear in only his fourth Test and hasn't beaten his opening effort of 31 against Pakistan in 2004-05 when he began his career as a No. 7. Five games of opening in the Champions Trophy will not be able to compare to an Ashes Test even for someone who has shown himself as a big-innings player for Queensland and Hampshire. Watson's multi-skills won him a trial last year but he popped a shoulder against West Indies and spent half the season in rehabilitation.

Now Watson has nosed out Clarke in a crucial decision and extra weaponry has been added in favour of a specialist batsman. Allrounders in five-man bowing units have not been significant parts of Australia's history and England were derided when they went this way in the 1990s. The new look for the first Test will be exciting, but force doesn't always work and it isn't a sure-fire way to cover other potential deficiencies. Just ask the West's most senior decision makers.