Andrew Strauss took a bold decision to bowl first in the third Test at Perth as he attempted to keep the pressure firmly on Australia's batting line-up. It was the cloudiest morning since the teams arrived in Western Australia and the pitch held a tinge of green so the England attack, including the recalled Chris Tremlett, will have an early chance to pepper Phillip Hughes.
After a week of making the headlines, Michael Beer was left out of Australia's side as the hosts made the rare decision to go in with a full complement of quick bowlers. It meant recalls for Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus, who were both dropped after Brisbane, and Ricky Ponting said he, too, would have bowled first. He hasn't done that since Edgbaston in 2005, but green WACA pitches have a history of tricking captains.
England needed to make a change to their line-up after the injury to Stuart Broad and despite some late nudges towards Tim Bresnan it was Tremlett who came in as he adds to the three caps he won against India in 2007. It is a positive move from the tourists who have promised not to back down despite holding a 1-0 lead and it's also a show of faith in Tremlett after he was picked with exactly this scenario in mind.
He went wicketless on a deathly slow pitch at the MCG last week as all England's reserve quicks struggled to make an impression, but bowled impressively against Australia A in Hobart last month where he dismissed Hughes and Steve Smith. Both those players are in today's Australia line-up which includes four changes from Adelaide. Hughes has the chance to restart a stalled Test career, while Smith has been brought in at the expense of Marcus North to provide some much-needed spark.
Australia 1 Shane Watson, 2 Phillip Hughes, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Steven Smith, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Ryan Harris, 10 Peter Siddle, 11 Ben Hilfenhaus.
England 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Chris Tremlett, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn.
Andrew McGlashan is an assistant editor at Cricinfo
Feeds: Andrew McGlashan © ESPN EMEA Ltd.
