Australia will decide on its bowling combination for the first Ashes Test against England starting on Wednesday (1000GMT) after studying pitch and ground conditions at its final practice session. The Australians were forced on Tuesday to face life without fast bowler Brett Lee who was a certainty to return to the side following an injury break after ripping through the England Lions last week. Lee pulled out of the first Test after a scan revealed a slight tear in his rib area. “Brett obviously bowled beautifully last week and I think that everybody that saw he was impressed with what he did,” captain Ricky Ponting told a news conference on Tuesday. “It's a relatively minor injury and we haven't written him out of playing in the second Test. We are all keeping our fingers crossed and hopefully he will back sooner rather than later.” Unsettled weather is forecast in Wales for the remainder of the week and there were a couple of showers on Tuesday morning before the Australians arrived at the ground for net practice. Ponting said the selectors had not yet settled on a team but would discuss their options after practice and decide on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. “We have a number of different ways we could go,” he said. By contrast, England captain Andrew Strauss said the home team had already decided on its final XI. “Obviously we won't be announcing until the morning but we are pretty clear in our own minds,” he said. “There has been some rain around but it looks a pretty good wicket. “I think there will be probably be a little bit in it for the seamers and good scoring opportunities for the batters and it will probably turn towards the end.” A moist atmosphere and heavy cloud cover will encourage conventional swing and may persuade Australia to play its four remaining pace bowlers Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Stuart Clark and Ben Hilfenhaus and omit the specialist spinner Nathan Hauritz. Off-spinner Hauritz has taken just two wickets in two warmup matches at a cost of 260 runs. If England has decided to include Graham Onions in a four-pronged pace attack, left-arm spinner Monty Panesar is the likely omission along with reserve batsman Ian Bell. After all the hype before Australia start its Ashes defense in a series delayed by the Twenty20 World Cup, both captains seemed happy to stop talking and start playing. “I think we have all the bases covered, there's not going to be any massive Churchillian speeches,” Strauss said. Ponting, 34, who is making his fourth tour of England, said the Australian team had been sharing memories of its first Ashes experiences.
