Australia have so many selection issues going into the Old Trafford Test match that they have been thrown into disarray.

The worst thing was Brett Lee going down with a knee infection because he was the one fast bowler who really looked the goods in the 2nd innings at Edgbaston. Australia have had a lot of bad luck, with first Glenn McGrath getting injured, then Lee's problems. The bottom line is that their preparations for the 3rd Test have been hampered.

Even if Lee plays, which looks unlikely, Australia have been plagued by doubts over the past few days and endless selection debates. Will Lee play, or won't he? Does Shaun Tait come in to the side? Do they play Stuart MacGill? Do they turn to the more experienced Stuart Clark?

Clark is a cricketer I've played a lot of games with and I rate him as a fine bowler. He's a bit like McGrath in that he's a tall man who delivers the ball from a great height and is very patient, relying on an excellent line and length to frustrate batsmen. Last year he took 40 wickets at 25 in Australia and that's a great effort.

With MacGill there's the question of whether this pitch at Old Trafford will suit his leg spin. It is baked hard and will offer pace and bounce to the pacemen, but such pitches usually take spin at some stage of the game. But if they play MacGill, they will need some extra overs of seam from somewhere. Who will bowl them? Ricky Ponting or Damien Martyn, perhaps, but neither has done much bowling of late.

They could have brought in an allrounder, either Shane Watson or Andrew Symonds, at the expense of Simon Katich, which would have been hard on him but would have given a side including MacGill a nice balance. It looks like they won't be doing that now. All these issues are a worry for Australia and a huge advantage for England, though the home side have a few problems of their own in the batting department.

There's the whiff of a little bit of panic coming from the Australian camp. But we must remember they are a resilient side and only lost by two runs at Edgbaston despite making a lot of mistakes there. That proved their fighting qualities are still intact.

At Edgbaston though, it needed the tailenders to make the runs and that should not be the case. The Australian batsmen need to lead the way at Old Trafford and put up a decent total for the bowlers to bowl at. Matthew Hayden has been struggling for a year and is well past the normal Australian period of tolerance of poor form. He's putting a lot of pressure on himself to score runs, but I don't think enough pressure is being applied from the outside.

This is the first big test of coach John Buchanan. I want to know what he is doing to turn things round for the batsmen, especially Hayden. He's had a very dominant side for a long time and this is his big moment.

We have to take into account that the England attack, with McGrath not playing, is superior and Australia are being tested in ways they are not too used to. It's difficult to for them to build partnerships and accelerate like they normally do at 4.5 runs an over because England keep coming back at them.

I want Australia to enjoy the challenge and seize the moment at Old Trafford. I'm very excited about seeing how they turn it around because it's going to be another great Test match.

10 Aug, 2005