Waugh plans to unleash pace trio on English

BIRMINGHAM, England - The haunting memory of Australia's opening morning of the Edgbaston Test four years ago will tempt Steve Waugh to unleash his pacemen on a makeshift England team when the 61st Ashes series begins tomorrow.

England is in disarray heading into the first Test, with key players Graham Thorpe, Michael Vaughan and Ashley Giles ruled out by injury and Thorpe's understudy, Mark Ramprakash, also unavailable because of a pulled hamstring.

Their replacements - former reject Mark Butcher, carrying an unthreatening Test average of 25.06, pedestrian offspinner Robert Croft and unheralded batsman Usman Afzaal - do not concern the Australians in the slightest.

Nothing in cricket is certain, though, and four years ago, after Mark Taylor won the toss and batted, pre-match favourite Australia was reeling at 8-54 at lunch before making a paltry 118 and losing by nine wickets.

Waugh has that in mind as he ponders the option of launching a withering first morning strike through Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie that could shatter England's fragile confidence, if he wins the toss against Nasser Hussain who's lost 11 of his last 12 tosses.

"We lost the Test in that first session," said Waugh.

"The wicket looks pretty dry, but with the three quicks there's definitely a temptation to bowl first.

"As always, the first session of the first Test is really important and can set up the whole series ... the results of this Test will have a great bearing on the rest of summer."

Common practice is to bat first, avoiding the perils of a last innings run chase, which few sides enjoy or succeed at, but Waugh has an uncommonly dangerous trio at his disposal.

The Australian skipper was wary of expecting too much from McGrath, Lee and Gillespie but the temptation to bowl first is great.

"The danger is to think the fast bowlers are going to blast everyone away," said Waugh.

"But we've still got to put it in the right spots.

"They could easily have a bad day, so we can't be over-confident about it, but if the three of them get it right, they're going to be a real handful."

Waugh was yet to decide whether Lee, who usually opens the bowling but has not played a Test since January because of an elbow injury, or in-form Gillespie will share the new ball with the world's No.1 bowler, McGrath.

"It's a difficult decision," said Waugh.

"At this stage I'd slightly angle towards Dizzy [Gillespie] because he's bowling so well and hitting the seam and I think he's almost at his peak right now.

"The great thing is we can swap them around if there's a bit of breeze, give Binger [Lee] a burst down breeze pretty soon after the new ball.

"It could end up being Dizzy and Binger taking the new ball and Pidge [McGrath] bowling first change sometimes."

Waugh believes his side, high on confidence after winning the tri-series and having so many good players in such good form, is in better shape than the team Taylor led in to battle four years ago.

"We were pretty rushed in 1997, but this time the one-day players have been here for a while, we've had quite a bit of cricket, we're pretty relaxed and we played such good cricket in the one-dayers that our confidence is up."

England's late changes, especially the loss of Thorpe, do not hurt, although Waugh said he would rather be playing against a full-strength England team.

The first Test in 1997 was a disaster but the last ball of Australia's last match at Edgbaston - a heart-stopping victory over South Africa at the World Cup - provides a better memory.