2009 Ashes / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 20 May 2009 / Leave a comment

The omission of Andrew Symonds from Australia's Test squad was the big story when Chief Selector Andrew Hilditch announced the 16 that will be entrusted with retaining the Ashes in England this summer, says Jamie Pacheco.

His exclusion comes as something of a surprise given that skipper Ricky Ponting had yesterday declared that he "wouldn't be surprised if he's named". Symonds' number six spot is now likely to be handed to injury-plagued all-rounder Shane Watson or Marcus North.

It seems this signals the end of Symonds' Test career and the feeling is he has been guilty of one act of indiscipline too many. His latest misdemeanour was insulting New Zealand wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum on a radio show whilst under the influence and he was also severely reprimanded for missing a team meeting to go fishing a few months back, in addition to a number of other off-field (and normally drinking-related) incidents. Symonds has played 26 Tests and averages 40.61 with the bat and despite missing out on the Test squad, he is expected to feature in the ODI series and the Twenty20 World Cup.

Watson is normally regarded as something of a limited-overs specialist, having played 77 ODIs and just 7 Tests for Australia. He was also named the player of the tournament as his IPL team, the Rajasthan Royals, won the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 tournament.

Marcus North has had plenty of experience of English conditions after spells with Derbyshire, Lancashire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire and Durham and is a handy off-spinner. His first experience of Test cricket came only recently when he was part of the Australian side that beat South Africa on their own patch, in which he contributed 117 in the First Test, a vital knock in the context of the Series.

There were recalls for pace bowlers Stuart Clark and Brett Lee, who like Watson, have also just come back from injury. Lee has continued his rehabilitation back into cricket by playing for the Kings Punjab XI in the IPL where he has been their star bowler since arriving half-way through the tournament. The Yuvraj Singh-captained side need to beat the Chennai Super Kings this afternoon if they are to progress in the competition and are [2.26] to beat MS Dhoni's men.

The general feeling in England is that the omission of Symonds is good news for England's prospects. Indisciplined or not, Andrew Symonds is a vastly experienced and talented cricketer who can score quickly if Australia already have runs on the board but who is also capable of playing a more conservative innings under pressure if the situations calls for it. The Birmingham-born star has also taken 24 Test wickets and is regarded as one of the finest fielders in the world game.

Australia are [1.73] favourites to win The Ashes with England [3.5] and the drawn series available at [6.6]. Paul Moon will be sharing his thoughts on the Australian Ashes squad on betting.betfair.com tomorrow.

Full Australia Ashes Tour squad: R Ponting (c), M Clarke (vc), S Clark, B Haddin, N Hauritz, B Hilfenhaus, P Hughes, M Hussey, M Johnson, S Katich, B Lee, G Manou, A McDonald, M North, P Siddle, S Watson.