Mark Waugh may be drinking in the last-chance saloon, but at least he has some powerful allies. John Buchanan has followed Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath in insisting that Waugh should be retained in the Australian side for the forthcoming Ashes series.

Waugh is under serious pressure for his place after an extended run of modest form. He made only 80 runs in four innings against Pakistan recently, and has not made a century in his last 12 Tests.

"The selectors have shown faith in all players and I would expect them to continue to show that faith," said Buchanan. "He [Waugh] is still one of the great fieldsman of all time so it will be a big decision for selectors to remove someone like Mark out of that side.

"The side is going along in good shape and I would expect the selectors to take that into account. Mark has been part of that side for a long period of time and he's occupied the No.4 position for a long period of time."

Buchanan's sentiments were echoed by Matthew Hayden, who said Waugh would "get my vote - no doubt about it", while Ricky Ponting felt that Waugh had been unlucky in the Pakistan series.

"He played particularly well in the first Test in Colombo," said Ponting. "He made 55 and got out but then had a couple of good balls and in a three Test series a couple of good balls and a decision you're not happy with and all of a sudden the Test series is gone."

But ominously for Waugh, Trevor Hohns, Australia's chairman of selectors, was unmoved by the support. "The players are entitled to their opinion but, at the end of the day, we have to sit down and select the team," he said. "We've got a couple of things on our plate to discuss at length but I won't talk about any particular selection issues."

The Aussie team is expected to be named on Monday, and Waugh, 37, also thinks he should be in it.

"I'm batting well enough," he said. "In the first Test [in Pakistan], I let a good chance slip by there in making 55 and the Tests in Sharjah: they were pretty good batting wickets. I was a bit disappointed not to make runs, especially in the last Test, but these things happen. Hopefully I can turn it around again and make some runs, but it's not the end of the world, is it really?"

Another man sweating over his place is Brett Lee, who managed just five wickets at an average of 46.80 against Pakistan. Since bursting onto the scene against West Indies two summers ago, Lee has taken just 47 wickets in his last 17 Tests.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd