In series gone by, Shane Warne's wizardry meant that pitches with turn in them favoured the Aussies. Not any more, says Ralph Ellis as England prepare to name two slow bowlers for the opening Ashes test...

From the moment the schedule for this summer's Ashes were announced, it seemed to make no sense at all to start the series in Cardiff. It's England versus Australia, for heaven's sakes, so why play in Wales? And why begin the most eagerly awaited contest in international cricket in a new and far flung venue?

But with a couple of weeks to go now, it's starting to look as if there could be a little twist - or rather a spin - to that decision. The pitch at the SWALEC Stadium is showing signs of taking turn and ironically that could be a massive home advantage as the Aussies for the first time in years don't have the beguiling, devastating bowling of Shane Warne to rely on.

England's captain Andrew Strauss, in contrast, will have three slow bowlers in his squad and the signs are that two of them will play in the opening match. Graeme Swann's inclusion was pretty much a given after his excellent winter, but between now and July 8, when the action begins for real, there's a chance for cult hero Monty Panesar to return to the fold.

The Northants left-armer was the surprise inclusion yesterday when England's National selector Geoff Miller announced the 16-man squad for the Ashes series, plus the team that will play Warwickshire at Edgbaston in a warm-up match next week. That looks very much like the favoured starting XI for the Ashes, and Panesar is in while Yorkshire's emerging leg-spinner Adil Rashid is kept back in the England Lions side that will play Australia at Worcester.

On the face of it recalling Panesar is a huge gamble. Rashid showed promise in the Twenty20 games and has the huge advantage of being close to a genuine all-rounder because his batting is a major strength, while Monty could be most kindly described as a genuine number 11. Add to that the fact that after his dramatic introduction to international cricket, the Northants man has gradually lost his way, and has done little in the county game this year to justify his return with just six wickets to his name. But there's a saying that form is temporary and class is permanent, and on that basis he could just emerge as an Ashes hero.

The thing about him is that, for all that his statistics this year don't suggest it, he takes big wickets in big situations. He's a bowler who has the magic ingredient of being able to break up big stands, and in Test cricket that counts. I'm even tempted by the [14.5] for him to be our top bowler in the series. And as for his batting, who cares? There's too much attention paid to trying to get bits and pieces out of players when what you need is world class specialist performances.

England remain massive outsiders for the Ashes at [3.6], but curiously the Aussies are not such heavy favourites to start the campaign with a win. They are [2.34] to be victorious in Cardiff, with England [3.85] and the draw [3.05].

Five things you might not know about Adil Rashid

1. Born in Bradford in 1988 he went to Heaton School - where they didn't play cricket

2. He took up the game aged eight because his Pakistani born dad Abdul was a big fan, who bowled leg spin for a local club

3. He joined Yorkshire's Academy as a batsman, but coach Terry Jenner encouraged him to develop his bowling and he quickly proved he was a natural.

4. He names his cricket heroes as Shane Warne and Tendulkar

5. He's been recruited by Bradford's health authority to front a campaign to help Asian taxi drivers in the city to stop smoking

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