England batsmen too inexperienced, says McGrath

Glenn McGrath is licking his lips at the prospect of bowling to an inexperienced England top order after Marcus Trescothick returned home. McGrath wrote in his column in The Sunday Telegraph that while he felt for Trescothick, he believed England's younger batsmen would also miss the chance to feed off Trescothick's experience.

"Last year, in England, he formed a great opening partnership with Andrew Strauss and their combination went a long way towards England ultimately winning the Ashes," McGrath said. "But his departure before this series has begun means that all the England players will be shuffled up the order. That's going to create two things. Firstly, it's going to put pressure on guys like Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell to perform.

"And, secondly, it's going to mean that once we get a couple of wickets, we are well on the way to ripping through them and exposing their middle order. Losing a player like Tres and being forced to revamp your batting line-up can unsettle a team considerably."

McGrath said Pietersen's recent form, which included 122 against New South Wales last week, was not necessarily a guide to how he would bat during the Ashes. "The century he scored was on an SCG wicket that was so slow and dead that I'd rather have been bowling on pitches in India," McGrath wrote. "Now Trescothick is gone, one can assume Pietersen will bat at No.4 and if we can get him to the crease a couple of wickets down with little on the board - we'll see if he continues to pack such a positive and attacking attitude."