Peter Siddle was rewarded for his perseverance with two late wickets as he helped Ashes holders Australia regain momentum at the end of a see-saw opening day in the first Test against England.

England were 336 for seven at stumps at Sophia Gardens on Wednesday after Siddle – like all the members of holders Australia’s attack making his Ashes debut – had removed Andrew Flintoff for 37 and Matt Prior for 56.

Flintoff played on after flat-footedly trying to cut. It was a poor stroke but the wicket was no more than fast bowler Siddle deserved and saw the end of a partnership of 86 which had taken just 95 balls to compile.

Wicket-keeper Prior, making his Ashes debut, was then bowled by a fine inswinging delivery from Siddle in the penultimate over of the day to leave the quick with figures of two wickets for 93 runs from his 23 overs.

Kevin Pietersen, who made 69, gave his wicket away to leave England 241 for five.

Pietersen had batted in largely responsible fashion until he rashly tried to sweep spinner Nathan Hauritz’s fifth ball back from well outside off-stump and top-edged a gentle catch to Simon Katich at short leg.

Off-spinner Hauritz’s first 14, unthreatening, overs had cost 41 runs. He’d been chosen ahead of experienced seamer Stuart Clark despite failing to impress in Australia’s warm-up matches where his two wickets cost 260 runs.

Pietersen batted for over three hours and faced 141 balls with four fours.

Flintoff, playing his first Test of the season after missing the home series win over the West Indies with a knee injury, struck a couple of booming drives to the delight of fans hoping he could repeat his Ashes heroics of 2005.

Prior, whose fifty came in just 54 balls, square-drove Siddle for four with one of the shots of the day.

Earlier, Australia’s quicks had bowled with great heart on a placid pitch to reduce England to 97 for three at lunch.

But a fourth-wicket stand of 138 between Pietersen and Paul Collingwood (64) brought the hosts back into the match.

The pair knew all about building a big partnership after sharing an England fourth-wicket record against Australia of 310 at Adelaide in 2006/07.

However, this latest alliance was ended when Ben Hilfenhaus tempted Collingwood unto pushing outside off-stump and wicket-keeper Brad Haddin held a diving right-handed catch.

South Africa-born Pietersen and Collingwood, who’d joined forces when England were 90 for three, batted through the second session and went 21 overs between boundaries.

When fast bowler Brett Lee, a veteran of 76 Tests, was ruled out Monday with a rib injury it meant Australia, who thrashed England 5-0 in 2006/07, would go into this match with no Ashes experience in their attack.

The bowlers were though given a boost by Mike Hussey.

Left-hander Alastair Cook (10), playing loosely away from his body against Hilfenhaus, saw Hussey hold a brilliant diving one-handed chance in the gully.

Ravi Bopara, hit second ball in the throat by lively first-change Siddle and on the head by a Mitchell Johnson bouncer, struggled.

By contrast, England captain Andrew Strauss, looked secure while making 30. Yet it was the left-hander, not Bopara, who gloved a well-directed Johnson bouncer to Clarke in the slips.

And Bopara’s innings of 35, which followed a run of three hundreds in as many Tests, ended when he spooned a catch off left-arm quick Johnson to Phillip Hughes at point.

Australia start their Ashes defence on Wednesday without a single frontline bowler who has previous Test experience in England. 

The Australians took swift revenge after losing the Ashes 2-1 in England four years ago by winning the return series in Australia 5-0.

But they have lost Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, and on Monday their most experienced bowler Brett Lee pulled out of the first Test with a muscle tear. Fast bowler Lee has taken 310 wickets in 76 Tests.

Australia’s attack will be led by Mitchell Johnson, who played an important role with bat and ball in their series win over South Africa this year, a result which captain Ricky Ponting said was one of the most satisfying of his career.

“It’s almost 50 Test matches since the 2005 series,” Ponting told a news conference on Tuesday.

“There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of hunger around the group, there’s a lot of desire to build on things I think we started in South Africa. Our level of play over there was exceptionally high and our standards were very high.”

England captain Andrew Strauss, whose team made a flying start to the English summer with successive wins over West Indies, said the home side “were chomping at the bit to get out there”.

“I am very happy where we are with this squad, there’s a nice sort of relaxed excitement about what’s to come,” he said.

Both teams have delayed naming their final XI until Wednesday morning following a final pitch inspection before the first Test match to be staged in Wales.

The 1st test of what promises to be a memorable Ashes series gets underway at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Wednesday July 8th. We take a look at the venue, the two squads and some of the key men who help tip the balance in the favour of their side.

The Venue

We have no test match history to guide us as far as Sophia Gardens is concerned. The ground is home to Glamorgan and is a surprising choice to host an Ashes test match. England captain Andrew Strauss is on record as saying both teams do not know what to expect which all makes for an intriguing opening to the series.

Let’s take a look at the squads:

England Squad: Andrew Strauss, Alistair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior, Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Ian Bell, Graham Onions.

England resisted the temptation to recall Steve Harmison and Graham Onions retains his place in the squad. With Panesar and Swann, England have the option to play 2 spinners if hey conditions will suit. Of the 13 man squad Ian Bell and one of either Onions or Panesar are most likely to miss out.

Australia Squad: Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, Phillip Hughes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Graham Manou, Andrew McDonald, Marcus North, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson.

Update: Brett Lee is an injury doubt for Australia and may miss the first test

The Aussies have just completed a warm up game against an England Lions side. The match ended in a draw and Brett Lee looked awesome when taking 6 wickets in the first innings and Marcus North starred with the 191 not out with the bat. Ponting struggled and opener Phillip Hughes looked vulnerable to the short pitched deliveries, more of which will be served up to him in the 1st test. All in all though, the warm up match is about players getting into shape for Wednesday and I wouldn’t place too much emphasis on it.

The key men:

Strauss was 100% correct when he said all XI need to contribute and there can be no over-reliance on a couple of star players. However there are still some “ifs and buts” that stand out more than others.

Philip Hughes – England’s bowlers will be looking to target the Australian opener in his first Ashes series. Hughes can expect plenty of short deliveries and how he handles it will be a big factor.

Andrew Flintoff – there is no doubt that if he is 100% fit and firing after his injury problems, Flintoff will be a major handful for the Australian batsmen. The “if” is the key word.

The Captains: Ponting will be under more pressure than Strauss, his own recent form has been poor and on the back of a dismal ICC T20 showing, pressure will soon mount if Australia find themselves on the back foot early on.

After Cardiff, there will also be tests at Lords, Edgbaston and Headingley before we finish up at the Oval.

Australia’s selectors will need to be almost as quick as a Brett Lee yorker after the fast bowler was ruled out of the first Ashes Test less than 48 hours before play is due to start on Wednesday.

Lee, 32, the only bowler in Australia’s squad to have so far played a Test in England, withdrew Monday with a rib muscle side injury.

This also threatens his participation in next week’s second Test at Lord’s and indeed places a huge question mark over Lee’s involvement in the entire five-match series.

He was the pick of Australia’s attack in taking six wickets for 76 runs against the England Lions at Worcester last week, where his pace and command of reverse-swing showed him to be back near his best.

But Australia have been here before. They won a series in South Africa earlier this year when Lee was injured, where the likes of left-arm quick Mitchell Johnson and the bustling Peter Siddle starred.

Now the selectors must decide whether they play their specialist spinner in off-break bowler Nathan Hauritz at Cardiff or opt for an-all seam attack with fill-in spin from the likes of Michael Clarke and Marcus North.

Milked for runs by county batsmen, Hauritz has had a lean time since arriving in England.

But even though the Cardiff pitch may not be as spin-friendly as has been suggested, it will certainly take turn and if Hauritz doesn’t get a Test match here he may well wonder when he is going to play in the series.

Now Australia fans must hope their selection panel show better judgment than convenor Andrew Hilditch did during the 1985 Ashes series in England when, as a Test match opening batsman, he fell so often to a bouncer trap he became known as the ‘happy hooker’.

In captain Ricky Ponting, Australia have one of the world’s great batsmen and their top order looks, if anything, a potentially more reliable source of runs than that of their hosts.

England’s heroes from their 2005 Ashes win, batsman Kevin Pietersen (Achilles) and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff (knee), both enter this campaign under injury clouds.

Their fitness, or lack of it, could prove vital.

Australia came to England this time without a clutch of retired stars in Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

So it is not surprising if, to English eyes, this Australia side lacks the swagger of the one that won the last Ashes 5-0 ‘down under’ in 2006/07.

But the question is not are Australia as good as their predecessors, but are they good enough to beat England?

“Any team that loses Warne, McGrath, Hayden, Langer, Gilchrist, Damien Martyn, are not going to be as strong,” Pietersen said on Monday.

But the South Africa-born shotmaker added: “It doesn’t matter who they put out, it’s going to be tough for us to do the business.

“And three months ago they beat South Africa in South Africa so this team is a good team…they are the world champions, the favourites.”

For England, whose top six picks itself, the poser is whether to play just the one slow bowler in off-spinner Graeme Swann or to also field another in either left-armer Monty Panesar or uncapped leg-spinner Adil Rashid.

They’ve already decided against recalling fast bowler Stephen Harmison, who twice found out Australia rising batting star Phillip Hughes with the short ball last week.

Crucially, Harmison’s were well-directed bouncers – a point the likes of Flintoff, swing specialist James Anderson and not to mention Durham’s Graham Onions – would do well to remember.

But former Australia captain Ian Chappell is concerned that Hughes may not be as good as many of his compatriots hope.

“There seems to be this widespread feeling that Hughes is going to be a star,” Chappell said. “Well he’s only played three Tests. He’s got a very unorthodox technique that could come unglued at any time.”

Chappell also said England’s attack gave them the edge. “Generally you go with the team with the best attack.

“At the moment, England have certainly got it.”

Squads:

England (from): Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior (wkt), Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Ian Bell, Graham Onions.

Australia (from): Phillip Hughes, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin (wkt), Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle, Stuart Clark, Ben Hilfenhaus.

Umpires: Billy Doctrove (WIS) and Aleem Dar (PAK)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL).

Stephen Harmison has failed to win back his place in the England side after being left out, on Sunday, of their 13-man squad for the first Ashes Test against Australia at Cardiff starting on Wednesday.

The news may come as a relief to Australia opener Phillip Hughes who was twice dismissed by short-pitched Harmison deliveries during the tourists’ drawn final warm-up match this week against the England Lions at Worcester.

The 30-year-old Harmison took six wickets in all for the Lions against Australia but the fast bowler, whose fiery new ball spell against Australia at Lord’s four years ago set the tone for England’s Ashes triumph, has been omitted after being dropped from the side during this year’s West Indies’ tour.

Instead fellow Durham quick Onions, who took 10 wickets in England’s 2-0 home series triumph over the West Indies, his debut Test campaign, has been added to the England team that drew this week’s practice match against Warwickshire while Lions captain Ian Bell was included as batting cover.

Injury-prone all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, the hero of England’s 2005 Ashes series win, returns to the squad following a knee injury and his recall means there is no place for Tim Bresnan, his stand-in earlier in the season.

“We were delighted with the way in which the team performed in the warm-up match at Edgbaston and it was very encouraging to see Andrew Flintoff bowl so well on his return to the side,” said national selector Geoff Miller after announcing the squad.

“We were keen to show consistency in selection and retain the nucleus of the side that performed so well against West Indies in the Test series earlier this summer,” the former England off-spinner added.

“Graham Onions has made an excellent start to his Test career and gives us a different option when we consider the make-up of our bowling attack and the type of conditions we will encounter.

“Ian Bell has performed well in county cricket this summer and he will act as cover batsman for this Test Match should any of our established batsmen be unavailable through injury.”

Left-arm spinner Monty Panesar is back in favour after missing the series against the West Indies while both Harmison and left-arm quick Ryan Sidebottom, in the wickets for Nottinghamshire in the County Championship, have been told by Miller not to give up on their Ashes hopes.

“There is healthy competition for places in our starting line-up at present and the strong performance by the England Lions against Australia at Worcester demonstrated that we are starting to develop a larger squad of players who can compete effectively with international class players,” he said.

Squad:

Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior (wkt), Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Ian Bell, Graham Onions.

Such a lot of fuss over something so small? It’s almost time for the Ashes, the greatest test match cricket series.

The 1st test of the Ashes series gets underway at Cardiff on Wednesday July 8th and there will also be tests at Lords, Edgbaston and Headingley before we finish up at the Oval.

Let’s take a look at the squads:

England Squad: (note this is 16 man pre Ashes squad which will be whittled down to 13 for the 1st test)

Andrew Strauss, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravinder Bopara, Tim Bresnan , Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann

Australia Squad:

Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, Phillip Hughes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Graham Manou, Andrew McDonald, Marcus North, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson.