Australian pace attack to call England's bluff

The former England captain, who had an injection to his lower back on Tuesday, was included in a 12-man squad for the Ashes opener. But the gamble could backfire when he faces an Australian pace attack led by Glenn McGrath, who dismissed Atherton seven times in six Tests in England last year.

Seven of the nine times McGrath has taken Atherton's wicket have been to bouncers and Atherton's bad back restricts foot movement, which leaves him a sitting duck.

McGrath said he was looking forward to finding out exactly how restricted Atherton. ``I'll probably loosen him up with a few short ones,'' McGrath said ominously. ``If he's got a bit of a dodgy back then he's probably not getting under (short balls) as well as he would like to do,'' McGrath added after Wednesday's nets. ``I know that he's a batsman I can get out.

``I've had quite a bit of success against Athers, last time he was captain as well as probably one of the linchpins in the team. ``If we can knock him over early it sets us up and puts us in a better position.'' Such is England's concern for its top order, seven specialist batsmen were named for the Ashes opener on a pitch with a healthy grass coverage likely to suit fast bowlers. And with Mark Butcher making only nine runs from five first class innings on tour, England had little option but to go with Atherton. John Crawley was also included in the squad despite being assaulted in Cairns last Sunday night.Crawley suffered cuts and bruises to his face but was one of seven batsmen named by England for the Test which will face a battery of Australian fast bowlers.

With no Shane Warne to bamboozle England's batsmen, Australia have gone for pace to take advantage of the Brisbane and Perth wickets in the first two Tests. McGrath and the resurrected Jason Gillespie hope to emulate Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson who terrorised England 25 years ago. Gillespie, who got help from Lillee to remodel his action which had caused stress fractures to his lower back, looks like getting the nod over Michael Kasprowicz for the third fast bowler's spot behind McGrath and Damien Fleming.

Captain Mark Taylor, who will be playing his 100th Test on Friday, is known to favour Gillespie's raw pace and aggression and Kasprowicz said after Wednesday's nets he would not be surprised to be carrying the drinks on Friday. Gillespie claimed a career-best 7-37 at Headingley last year to set Australia up with a 2-1 series lead.

England also chose a three-pronged pace attack headed by Darren Gough with support from Alan Mullally and seamer Angus Fraser while off-spinner Robert Croft got the nod over Peter Such. Former England great Ian Botham warned Australia not to underestimate Atherton's fighting qualities.

``He's a world class player and not many sides have got players of that sort of quality,'' said Botham, who will commentate on the Ashes series. ``England will be delighted in the camp that he has passed a fitness test. ``He has had this back problem for quite a while so he knows what it's about and how it reacts and obviously he has declared himself fit and no-one knows better than him.'' Botham also said Butcher, whose lean stretch with the bat came after being struck above the right eye on the second ball he faced in a first class match this tour, would rise to the challenge of the Ashes opener.

``I'll just take you back to the series in England (last year), a lot of your so called experts and ex-players were calling for (Australian captain) Mark Taylor's head,'' he said. ``They had that shoved back down their throats so I wouldn't shout too much about Butcher yet.''