If England are going to avoid defeat in Australia for the first time in 20 years, they will probably need to avoid defeat in the first Test at Brisbane, which - for those of you who have just stepped off the plane from Mars - gets under way in just over three weeks' time. And if they are going to avoid defeat in Brisbane, they are going to have to resolve some outstanding issues pretty fast. Here are a few they might like to consider:
1. Four bowlers or five? Four would allow Andrew Flintoff the luxury of batting himself at No7, and thus shorten England's frighteningly long tail. But can Flintoff's ankle be trusted to partake in a four-man attack? And what happens if Steve Harmison has a shocker? With the possible exception of Perth, England will probably play it safe and go for five. Australia are toying with the idea too, although their choice might depend on the fitness of Glenn McGrath. If he's 90% or more, then Michael Clarke will probably at No6. Anything less, and Shane Watson might come in as insurance.
2. Assuming England go for five bowlers, they must decide which of Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood to leave out. Cook's last Test innings was 83, and his last knock against Australia was 214. Unless he has a nightmare in the warm-up games, he's in. Collingwood is a man for a crisis, and his fielding could be crucial, but then he can always come on as a, er, substitute fielder. Bell is a man transformed after the traumas of last summer. And if Australia under-rate him, so much the better. Collingwood to miss out, with the carrot of a game at Perth to keep his spirits up.
3. How is Marcus Trescothick? The man himself says he is fine and raring to go, which makes his absence in India a bit of a mockery, but his record in Oceania is miserable (16 innings, two fifties) and it might not need much to upset his equilibrium this time. It is easily forgotten, but England's post-Lord's success last summer often stemmed from Trescothick's rollicking starts: 90 off 102 balls on the first morning at Edgbaston, 41 off 56 in the second innings at Old Trafford, 27 off 22 in the Trent Bridge runchase, and 43 off 65 at The Oval. If they sacrifice that strength this time, the top order could stagnate fatally.
4. Chris Read or Geraint Jones? Many Spin readers believe this is not an issue. They believe Read deserves a proper go because he is the better wicketkeeper. But his performance with the gloves in the Champions Trophy was little better than average, and his batting was No10 standard, especially against Dwayne Bravo's slower ball. Jones's keeping was on the up when he was dropped for the third Test against Pakistan. Yes, his batting was going the other way, but let's be honest: which of the two is going to make two 70s this winter?
5. Has Steve Harmison lost it, or is he - in the words of the England bowling coach Kevin Shine - "the best bowler in the world"? Saner observers than the Spin will know that neither is true. And yet Harmison needs to bowl as much as he can before Brisbane, which makes his omission from Saturday's win over West Indies utterly mystifying. OK, so we learned that Jon Lewis can indeed bowl outside England, and that in itself is useful knowledge ahead of the World Cup. But if Harmison is not in the groove by November 23, England will be in serious trouble.
6. Is Ashley Giles a spanner in the works? He says he is in better shape than he has been for a decade, and reckons he might replace Monty Panesar depending on "team balance". It's true that Giles at No8 would have a reassuring feel to it, but England aren't surely about to drop a man who tied Pakistan's batsmen in knots last summer. Are they?
