Spin Twins for Super Test

Stuart MacGill looks set to partner Shane Warne in the Super Test starting later today. The Sydney Cricket Ground is traditionally a spin friendly pitch, and with the Test scheduled for six days, the pitch is expected ‘to last’.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting will be left with a difficult decision if he wins the toss, ‘I think there will be some moisture in the wicket certainly on the first morning which obviously means the ball will seam a little bit’ but it will spin a little bit as well so it’s going to be a tough decision to make.’ Ponting said.

The Australian batting order will also give Ponting some headaches; will he bat wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist at six and bring in young all-rounder Shane Watson at seven? With the dropping of Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke is expected to move up to the number four batting position.

In other news Shoaib Akhtar has been left out of the World XI, with the captain Graeme Smith denying form or fitness as the reason for leaving out the Pakistan paceman. Smith has challenged his players; ‘In the Test match we want to see a vast improvement from each player.’ This is in reference to the poor showing from the World XI in the recent ODI series, of which Graeme Smith was not selected.

Australia 1 Justin Langer, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Simon Katich, 6 Shane Watson, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Glenn McGrath, 11 Stuart MacGill, 12 Brad Hodge.

World XI 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq, 5 Brian Lara, 6 Jacques Kallis, 7 Andrew Flintoff, 8 Mark Boucher, 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.