Graham Onions has been named in the English squad for the Ashes after having impressed the selectors in the series against the West Indies, while Steve Harmison has been overlooked despite having picked six wickets in the game against the Australians. Geoff Miller, the head of English selectors attributed this to the need to show consistency with the selections especially after the side had won a series.
Now, Onions will battle for a place in the final eleven with Monty Panesar for the Cardiff game that begins on the eighth of July. The Cardiff pitch is expected to support the spinners, but Graeme Swann is the frontline spinner for England, with a toss-up between a quick bowler or an extra spinner to make the line-up complete. James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Andrew Flintoff will be the top three choices for the English, and Swann will be the spinner.
It will depend on the team management to decide which way to turn for the fifth bowling option; whether the pitch will spin on the fourth and the fifth day and whether they have enough trust on Monty Panesar to deliver after a rather bad run of first class form.
Ian Bell was also selected in the squad, despite having scored a duck and 20 in the two innings that he batted against the Australians. However, Michael Vaughan’s retirement meant that the road for his selection to the team was cleared.
Miller said, “Ian Bell has performed well in county cricket this summer. He will act as cover batsman for this Test match should any of our established batsmen be unavailable through injury.”