England are setting up Super Fred for a crash landing

Alex Brown, of the Age, the Melbourne-based daily, is not convinced about the potency of the English squad for the Ashes.

A closer look at the England squad reveals that Flintoff, himself returning from injury and preparing for his first Test in Australia without a "super" prefix, has little in the way of reliable, experienced campaigners with him. Only three other players have more than 50 Tests to their name, and of those, Marcus Trescothick's emotional issues and Ashley Giles's dodgy hip must surely be cause for concern. Nine members of the "senior" squad of 16, meanwhile, have played fewer than 20 Tests - including Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and Monty Panesar, of whom much is expected this summer.

The Age's Greg Baum concurred:

England might also have outsmarted itself by making Flintoff captain. Certainly, he proved himself last year as the long-awaited and much-mythologised next Botham. But it should not be forgotten that the last Botham, the original, not only was a conspicuous failure as captain, but while in office was reduced to a mere mortal as a cricketer, too.

Bob Woolmer, writing in the Australian, reckons England have recovered this summer from their post-Ashes celebratory state of mind but still believes Australia will win back the Ashes. .

If I was a betting man, I would say — sadly, for I remain an Englishman — that England will not retain the Ashes.