Ashes 2010: The Australia squad in pictures

Ricky Ponting (Captain) Age 36 Tests 148 Ashes Tests 31 Treated with disrespect by sections of the English crowd during the last Ashes series, any objective analysis would rate him among the most elegant batsmen of the past 40 years. Susceptible to early swing which should not be an issue in Australia, his supposed decline was not much in evidence in India where he made three seventies in four Test innings. A relatively conservative captain, he has looked slow to devise strategies when things aren’t going well and he no longer has the opportunity to throw the ball to Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne. Photograph: Hamish Blair/Getty Images

Shane Watson Age 29 T 22 AT 3 Long earmarked for the role of Australia’s all-rounder he has blossomed as an opener since replacing Phillip Hughes after the 2009 Lord’s Test. Averaging more than 50 in 14 Tests at the top of the order, he has confounded his critics who felt he didn’t have a sound enough technique to flourish as an opener. He has also taken 40 wickets at an average of under 30 but he never looks particularly penetrating, more of a happy-knack merchant who benefits when batsmen try to get after him. Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

Simon Katich Age 35 T 54 AT 11 Reinvented himself as a crabby opener with a penchant for clubbed shots square of the wicket. Never stops moving at the crease – he is as far removed from the aesthetically-pleasing classical left-hander as it is possible to get, more Graeme Smith than David Gower, but while he looks ungainly he is remarkably effective. He has scored three 90s since his last Test hundred at Cardiff and Steve Waugh rates his intelligence, singling him out as a future Australia captain more than a decade ago. Bowls chinamen which have bamboozled the best but has a long-standing shoulder problem that prevents him from being anything more than a very occasional weapon these days. Photograph: Pal Pillai/Getty Images

Michael Clarke Age 29 T 64 AT 15 Scored superb hundreds at Adelaide and Perth on England’s last visit and at Lord’s and Edgbaston during the 2009 series. He has reined in the carefree, attacking and often insouciant shot-making approach of his earlier years and the occasional flakiness that came with it and has matured into a fine, consistent run-scorer. Even so, in the cause of pragmatism, he seems to have sacrificed a mite too much of the charm that once had his advocates polishing a plinth for him alongside Greg Chappell and Mark Waugh in the hall of fame. Nailed on to succeed Ponting as captain but has yet to display he possesses the kind of cold-eyed ruthlessness of the typical Australian skipper. Photograph: Marty Melville/Getty Images

Michael Hussey Age 35 T 54 AT 10 Formerly the Mr Reliable of the Australian middle order and averaging almost 60, his run of 15 Tests without a hundred before the Oval Test against England last year left him looking more mortal. Failed in India and there are murmurings that his best is behind him but the selectors are willing to gamble by sticking with him because of his experience and ability to build match-winning partnerships. Never particularly eye-catching at the crease, in top form he is a kind of über Graham Thorpe, a power nurdler who accumulates runs without ever appearing to dominate bowling in the longer format. Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

Marcus North Age 31 T 19 AT 5 At times he has looked the part of the quintessential Australian No6 capable of righting a listing ship or, as England have found to their cost with his centuries at Cardiff and Headingley, inflicting further punishment if the top five have cashed in. For all that, though, his handy off-spin and happy knack of scoring a hundred when his place is most at risk, because his dreadfully static feet make him such a shaky starter, has kept him in the side despite recent calls for him to be dropped. Photograph: Pal Pillai/Getty Images

Brad Haddin Age 33 T 27 AT 4 Had a touch of the iron gloves in his early days as Australia’s wicketkeeper but has improved considerably even if late movement in England left him racking up the byes at Lord’s. Far more accomplished with the bat – not as good as Adam Gilchrist (but who is?) yet capable of plundering runs at a fair lick, At the crease he is halfway between his once-in-a-lifetime predecessor and Ian Healy’s mixture of plucky rearguard cameos and cherry-on-the-cake maulings. Elbow problems have kept him out of the side for the last two tours. Photograph: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Nathan Hauritz Age 29 T 17 AT 3 Dependable rather than flashy, Hauritz is a throwback to the type of pre-Harbajhan Singh off-spinner who perhaps lacks the character to be really aggressive in his bowling. He is much more than a containment specialist, though, and gets enough spin to trouble batsmen even if his variations of flight and drift are not in Graeme Swann’s class. Struggled in India where his speciality was meat and drink to the home batsmen and though Mitchell Johnson’s line of attack gives him huge footholds to bowl into outside the right-hander’s off-stump he does not consistently exploit them effectively. Photograph: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Steve Smith Age 21 T 2 AT 0 A very promising leg-spinner with public opinion clamouring for his inclusion at Nathan Hauritz’s expense. He gives his stock ball a big rip and he gets significant turn but at the moment bowls too many loose balls to be the only spinner against the better sides. His batting, though, is already Test material with a fine array of shots and he could slot in at No6 and allow Australia to pick two spinners. Photograph: Hamish Blair/Getty Images

Mitchell Johnson Age 29 T 38 AT 5 The great enigma who alternates between devastating bursts and spells of amateurish waywardness. He has a far better bowling record at home, however, and his left-arm pace can reach the mid 90smph. Amateur psychologists have been trying to analyse why he lacks consistency but it has more to do with an erratic action than anything else. If it clicks he could give England’s batsmen their toughest test for years but on past form there is likely to be as much dross as gold. A fine, biffing lower-order batsman he, like Stuart Broad, has what it takes to bat at No7 if he applied himself. Photograph: Pal Pillai/Getty Images

Ben Hilfenhaus Age 27 T 13 AT 5 An excellent master of swing and seam on the tour of England, taking 22 Test wickets and bagging Andrew Strauss four times and Ravi Bopara on five occasions. Injury has, however, restricted him to only one Test in Australia but those pundits who have predicted that his Terry Aldermanesque virtues will not be so dangerous away from England should note how well he bowled in South Africa and the five wickets he took in that solitary home Test. Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

Peter Siddle Age 25 T 13 AT 5 Patriotic to the extent that he’s got the Southern Cross tattooed on his back, the Victorian pace bowler is the team’s enforcer. His action and the speed he generates is hardly refined but reverse swing makes him subtly different to Merv Hughes to whom he has been so frequently compared. To England fans he is the Ocker incarnate but they will underestimate him at their peril as his 20 wickets in the 2009 series and superb five for 21 at Headingley emphasise. He has only just returned from a stress fracture in the back that has kept him out since January but the selectors value him so highly they will pick him if he proves his fitness. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Doug Bollinger Age 29 T 11 AT 0 The journalist’s dream – first with his name which allows all manner of quips about fizz and bubbles and then because of the toupee he wears after enduring years of being known as The Bald Eagle. He’s a no-nonsense left-arm “whanger” with genuine speed and menace and enough variation to take 22 wickets in his last five Tests. He brims with aggression and is the prime candidate to bump shoulders with Stuart Broad this series. Photograph: Phil Walter/Getty Images

Callum Ferguson Age 26 T 0 AT 0 A surprise inclusion in what is an extended 17-man Australia squad, Ferguson looked to have missed his chance when he failed to impress for South Australia in the rain affected match against England last week. He will get another opportunity to deliver when Australia A meet Andrew Strauss's side this week. Photograph: Philip Brown/Reuters

Ryan Harris Age 31 T 2 AT 0 Another unexpected inclusion in this provisional Australian panel, Harris is already a doubt for the first Ashes Test due to a chronic knee problem which has affected the all-rounder throughout the season. He made his Test debut earlier this year in New Zealand taking six wickets in Australia's convincing victory in Wellington. His knee problem will prevent Harris from featuring for Australia A and a decision will be made on his fitness later in the week. Photograph: Jonathan Wood/Getty Images

Xavier Doherty, Age 27, 0 Tests. Doherty is a surprise inclusion. The slow-left arm spinner has played in two one-day internationals, making his debut only 12 days ago against Sri Lanka and taking four wickets in the match. Like the Australia captain, Ricky Ponting, Doherty is from Tasmania and he offers the squad a third slow bowling option after Nathan Hauritz and Steve Smith. His domestic reputation in Australia has been built more in one-day cricket than in the first-class game. Photograph: Krystle Wright/AFP/Getty Images

Usman Khawaja Age 23 Tests 0 Khawaja was born in Pakistan and moved to Australia when he was a young boy. He was a member of the Australia squad that played Tests against Pakistan in England during the summer, but is still awaiting his Test debut. The left-handed New South Wales batsman has a growing reputation and has already scored a double century for his state side in the Sheffield Shield this year. Photograph: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images