Injuries rob Australia of five fast bowlers
By Vic Mills
LONDON (JP): Injuries and family illness have robbed Australia of three of their contingent of five fast bowlers for the sixth and final Ashes Test of the summer starting at The Foster's Oval today.
Out of their reckoning has gone Brendan Julian who fractured the wrist of his bowling arm at Trent Bridge, while Jason Gillespie and Paul Reiffel are already back in Australia, injury and family illness bringing their tour to a premature end.
A loss of personnel such as this would ordinarily set the crisis bells ringing. With the Ashes retained at Trent Bridge, however, Mark Taylor simply called for reinforcements and set off with his family for a sightseeing trip of London.
From the legion of young Australians playing cricket in England, the tourists summoned Shaun Young, the Tasmanian all- rounder, from Gloucestershire and Shane Lee, the New South Wales all-rounder, currently with Enfield in the Lancashire League.
With Michael Kasprowicz set to replace Gillespie in the Test side, Young and Lee went head-to-head in the recent three-day fixture against Kent at Canterbury for the third seamers place.
Australia won by six wickets on the final afternoon with Lee taking match figures of eight for 113.
A performance that prompted acting captain Steve Waugh to comment: "In the first innings, Shaun was maybe trying too hard, but in the second he performed the containing job we would want at The Oval. Shaun might still be just in front because he has played first-class cricket here all summer for Gloucestershire, but that was the best I have seen Shane bowl in first-class cricket. He settled into a good rhythm, swung the ball and worked the batsmen out."
The injuries to Gilesspie and Reiffel may yet work in the tourists' favor. For if the current Australian team lacks anything, it is that of a genuine all-rounder.
While Young and Lee stand some way short of international class with the ball, both are capable of explosive hitting with the bat.
In his only season of country cricket, Lee topped Somerset's batting last year with an average of 65.00 including an unbeaten 167 against Worcestershire at Bath.
Young has displayed a similar relish for English conditions with an innings of 237 against Derbyshire at Cheltenham a month ago.
The selectors will leave the final decision until the morning of the match.
Michael Bevan may yet come into frame, the extra bounce in The Oval pitch suiting his left-arm spin. The only other doubt for The Oval is Steve Waugh.
The vice captain made light of his hand injuries sustained at Old Trafford to score 154 in 278 minutes with 26 fours in the first innings against Kent. Errol Alcott, the tourists' physiotherapist, is confident that Waugh will be fit for the final test.
The wear and tear on the players was eased some what after Trent Bridge with a mini-break in Ireland.
A nine-day game against Ireland, scheduled around the golf, was won comfortably by 141 runs with Ricky Ponting scoring an unbeaten 117 off 89 balls.
With the Ashes won and the series effectively over, the enemy for Australia now is that of complacency.
The hard, flat pitch and fast outfield should encourage the batsmen to one last effort, Greg Blewett, Mark Waugh and Taylor himself all need runs to secure their test future.
The bounce will also assist the bowlers, with Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne eager to add their tally of Ashes wickets.
While the toss will not be as vital as other grounds this summer, Taylor will still look to make it six in a row and once again bat England to distraction.
Australia will select from the following 12 -- Taylor (capt), Elliot Blewett, Waugh M, Waugh S, Ponting, Lee, Young, Healy, Warne, Kasrowicz and McGrath.