Captain Michael Clarke is fit and will take his place in an unchanged Australian line-up for the second Ashes test against England.
Australia won the series-opening match by 381 runs in Brisbane its first win in 10 tests and has retained the winning combination, with Clarke overcoming a mild ankle injury and saying he’s “100 per cent” ready to play starting on Thursday at Adelaide.
Clarke batted in the nets and did fielding drills on Wednesday to test his sore right ankle. He rolled awkwardly on the ankle on Monday and missed practice on Tuesday.
“The ankle feels fine,” Clarke told a news conference Wednesday. “I think not training yesterday obviously gave me an extra day ... I feel fine”.
It’s the first time in almost a year that Australian selectors have an unchanged starting XI.
“It’s a real positive to where the team is at,” Clarke said. “It’s a nice position to be in when the selectors hand you the same 11.”
The first test ended acrimoniously with rival players trading insults on the pitch and Clarke fined because he used an expletive during an exchange with England tail ender Jimmy Anderson that was heard on the TV broadcast.
“We will continue to play a tough brand of cricket on the field ... we all know there is a line we can’t cross,” he said. “We still have the ultimate respect for our opposition.”
England will make enforced changes after Jonathan Trott quit the tour after the first test and returned home due to a stress-related illness. That will mean a new batsman coming in at No. 6, and either Joe Root or Ian Bell moving up the order to bat at No. 3.
There’s also likely to be a change in the bowling attack, with either Tim Bresnan coming in to support the seamers or Monty Panesar coming in as a second spin option.
After initially saying he wouldn’t be drawn on England’s team selection, Clarke offered a couple of suggestions to his rivals.
England has won the last three Ashes series, including a 3-1 win on its last tour to Australia in 2010-11.
Kevin Pietersen scored 227 in the last Ashes test in Adelaide, which England won by an innings.
Australia team
David Warner, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (captain), Steve Smith, George Bailey, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Nathan Lyon. 12th man- James Faulkner.
