From rookie quick Jackson Bird to smarting spearhead Peter Siddle, Australia’s pace attack is on a collective mission to bowl over England and bring back the Ashes.
Bird was pulling beers four years ago when Australia last toured England for cricket’s age-old battle, while Siddle is the only member of the pace brigade to have twice tasted bitter defeat in an Ashes series.
“I’ve had a couple of disappointing ones – I’ve played in two, lost two – which is pretty rare for an Australian cricketer to be a part of,” Siddle said after the naming of Australia’s 16-man squad on Wednesday.
“So it’s very exciting to get the opportunity to go over there again to try and win back the Ashes.”
Along with Siddle and Bird, selectors picked James Pattinson, left-armer Mitchell Starc, returning veteran Ryan Harris and allrounder James Faulkner in a six-man pace battery.
Mitchell Johnson and Xavier Doherty were omitted after last month’s 4-0 series loss in India, with Nathan Lyon the lone spinner chosen.
Ben Hilfenhaus was also overlooked despite his late-season form in Sheffield Shield cricket, but former captain Steve Waugh believes selectors have the right mix of youth and experience.
“I believe our quicks are good enough to take 20 wickets in any conditions and in England should help them,” Waugh said.
“So that’s where we’re going to do the damage.”
Siddle said the Indian humiliation should be forgotten.
“If you look back a couple of months before that, we came within one wicket of defeating the No.1 Test team in the world in our conditions, which are very similar to England,” he said.
“We want to go to England and improve and show the public, our fans, our families, everyone involved in Australian cricket, that we are a force in world cricket and that we can get back to No.1.
“If we can do our best thing with the ball and get the wickets as quickly as possible and put the pressure on them, then obviously that makes it a little bit easier for the batters.”
Bird has only played 19 first-class matches – including two Tests – since debuting in the 2011-12 season but could emerge as a Terry Alderman-like weapon in English conditions with his effective outswingers.
“To be honest, I never really thought about playing cricket for Australia until midway through this summer,” the 26-year-old said.
“After I started playing and did reasonably well, the Ashes started creeping into my mind.”
Bird returned early from the Indian tour with stress fractures in his back.
He said he expected to be back to 100 per cent in three to four weeks.
