Peter Siddle preferred over Doug Bollinger for first Ashes Test
The Australian playing eleven for the first Ashes Test match against England has been named. The game which will be played at the Gabba will see the inclusion of Peter Siddle and Xavier Doherty in the playing eleven. This will also mean that Doug Bollinger
will miss out on playing in the game, while Steven Smith will also sit out.
The decision to select Siddle over Bollinger came after it was decided that the latter hadn’t had too much match practice. Both Siddle and Bollinger have been injured lately but Siddle recovered before the start of the ODIs against Sri Lanka and was a part
of the three games. He also played in some Sheffield Shield games before being afforded a break from playing in the last Sheffield Shield before the Ashes.
Bollinger, on the other hand, had injured his stomach muscle on the tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758. He finally seemed to have recovered from the
injury and featured in his state side, New South Wales’ game against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Luke-Butterworth-c1850 in what turned out to be the last over of the innings.
The Australia captain Ricky Ponting explained the selection: “Lack of bowling [for Bollinger] over the last few weeks has been as much to do with it as anything.”
He also added that the three quick bowlers chosen for the game, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson and Siddle were the first-choice fast bowlers in any case and reminded that they were instrumental in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in 2009.
Left arm spinner Xavier Doherty will also make his Test match debut in the Brisbane Test.
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