My team for the 1st Test

1. Matthew Hayden
2. Phil Jaques
   
3. Ricky Ponting (c)
   
4. Mike Hussey
   
5. Michael Clarke
6. Andrew Symonds
7. Adam Gilchrist (wk)
8. Mitchell Johnson
9. Nathan Bracken
10. Stuart Clark
11. Shaun Tait

Comments:

• No I do not like Brett Lee. He'll be picked, of course, instead of Bracken.
• Bracken deserves another go at Test level. He is a superb one-day player and has performed well at first class level so I think it will only be a matter of time before he performs well at Test level.
• No spinners. Why? None of the available players (MacGill included) deserve to be picked. If a spinner is to be picked he has to be consistently taking wickets in the Sheffield Shield. Moreover it also needs to be proved whether the selection of an in-form spinner is better than an in-form pace bowler.
• Tait and Johnson open. Clark is first change. Bracken is second change.
• Symonds' value to the team is whether he can perform well as a batsman, not a faux all-rounder.
  
• I toyed with the idea of Hussey opening but I felt that Jaques deserves a place as an opener, and I couldn't see any middle-order batsmen worth picking just yet. Moreover, Hussey should be elevated to no. 4 because of his form, rather than batting down at 6.