ADELAIDE, (Reuters) – Australia will take the same 12-man squad to Perth for the third Ashes test this week after humbling England by 218 runs to win the second match in Adelaide yesterday.
Selector John Inverarity said in a statement that uncapped fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile and 12-test paceman Doug Bollinger would also be in Perth on standby and would train with the squad for the test match “should they be required.”
Australia fielded the same team in Adelaide that thrashed England by 381 runs in Brisbane, the first time in a year that the team has been unchanged for consecutive tests.
Coach Darren Lehmann was reluctant to mess with a winning formula for the WACA, where their pacemen will hope to wreak maximum damage against a shell-shocked England side on a bouncy wicket.
“At the moment, all good,” Lehmann said of his bowlers’ fitness for the third match starting on Friday.
“(If they’re) 100 percent, they’ll play. If not, they won’t.
“From our point of view, we’ve just got to keep what we’re doing now. Not change too much.
Just make sure we adapt to Perth conditions. As you’ve seen, we adapted very well from Brisbane to here, and now we go back the other way.”
Australia lead the five-test series 2-0 and can wrest the Ashes away from holders England with victory in Perth. Australia squad: Chris Rogers, David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (captain), Steve Smith, George Bailey, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Nathan Lyon, James Faulkner.
