CARDIFF: Shane Watson's bowling appears to have given him the edge in the battle to be named as Australia's all-rounder for the first Ashes Test on Wednesday while forgotten paceman Peter Siddle also surged back into contention under grey skies in the Welsh capital.
The Australians turned up to training in Cardiff for the first time on Monday to confront not only Prince Charles, who arrived via helicopter to meet them, but conditions far removed from those they faced in the tour match against Essex last week. That game had been staged in the midst of a classic English heatwave in which the temperature rose slightly beyond 30 degrees and it was spoken about as if it was the coming of Armageddon.
Regular service, overcast and drizzly, has resumed here, meaning captain Michael Clarke and selectors only had a brief look at the pitch when its hovercraft cover was removed.
What they saw, an abundance of grass cover, surprised them, and while there is an expectation here that what will eventuate by later in the week is a flat and slow wicket manufactured to dilute Australia's fast bowling strengths, the possibility of fielding four quicks has been tossed around by the tourists.
If recent history under Clarke, though, is any indication, Australia will stick with a spinner, Nathan Lyon, alongside three pacemen. That would increase the requirement for an effective fourth seamer and while Mitchell Marsh impressed with back-to-back hundreds in the tour matches against Kent and Essex and has Watson covered in pace, fast bowling coach Craig McDermott agreed the more senior all-rounder is better equipped for the holding role with the ball that could be very important for Australia.
"I think so and also with the fourth seamer only bowling 10-15 overs tops, depending on how they're bowling and how the other guys are going, his control is excellent," McDermott said.
"He's a lot more experienced and has been around for a long time so you'd expect his control and everything else to be better."
Marsh bagged a quartet of wickets over the tour matches in the past fortnight but McDermott said "he's still developing" as a bowler.
"He's got some pace back - the No.1 thing we were chasing for from him was to get some speed up," McDermott said.
"Him obviously being nervous with his injuries throughout the summer in Australia and wanting to stay on the paddock made him back off a little bit I think. Now he's our No.1 man over the 2km time trial and all that sort of stuff ... he's got his fitness back, he's lost some weight and he's got his pace back up.
"He's actually swinging the ball nicely now, he bowled a lot better in the second innings in Essex than the first innings and also Canterbury. So considering he hasn't had a lot of four-day cricket bowling it's a work in progress but he's coming on nicely."
Siddle, meanwhile, has given the selectors another dilemma by impressing in the practice matches and at training, his knowledge of bowling in English conditions coming to the fore. The 30-year-old played in the last 10 Ashes Tests Australia have contested in England and with Ryan Harris's career coming to an unfortunate end, the Victorian's form has been noted. How selectors would leave out either Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc or Josh Hazlewood to accommodate him is the issue.
"I've got to hand it to him - he's stuck to his guns, trained hard and worked hard and come a couple of days' time we'll find out whether he gets a game or not," McDermott said of Siddle. "He's worked well, his pace has picked up and as always his control is fantastic.
"The boys this morning were swinging the ball a lot. If we do get a lot of swing we can use the crease to maximise that, and that's pretty important for our attack, and certainly Sidds is one who uses the crease well. The other guys do as well, but he uses it as good as anyone."
