<p>Badly hit by injuries and form slumps, Australia named a bumper 17-strong squad nine days ago, then a slimmed down 13-man version at the weekend before being forced to supplement that with Usman Khawaja as cover for the injured Clarke. <br /><br />So it was doubtless with some relief that skipper Ricky Ponting was able to announce a starting XI for the first Test, which starts on Thursday. <br /><br />"We have got a team," Ponting told a news conference. "Doug Bollinger and Usman Khawaja are the two who are not playing. <br /><br />"Michael Clarke's got through his work particularly well in the last few days, had a long, solid session in the nets today so he's come through pretty well and Dougie's the unlucky quick who misses out." <br /><br />Clarke had been suffering from a recurrence of a back problem that has dogged him for much of his career and missed training on Monday. The return of his vice captain and anointed successor -- not to mention a top order batsman with 64 Tests and 4,549 runs to his name -- will be a huge boost to Ponting as he looks to take the fight to England. <br /><br />"We've done enough talking, enough training, enough preparation, it's game time and we're all excited about that," said the 35-year-old, who is keen to avoid the ignominy of being the first Australia captain to lose three Ashes series.</p>
<p>Badly hit by injuries and form slumps, Australia named a bumper 17-strong squad nine days ago, then a slimmed down 13-man version at the weekend before being forced to supplement that with Usman Khawaja as cover for the injured Clarke. <br /><br />So it was doubtless with some relief that skipper Ricky Ponting was able to announce a starting XI for the first Test, which starts on Thursday. <br /><br />"We have got a team," Ponting told a news conference. "Doug Bollinger and Usman Khawaja are the two who are not playing. <br /><br />"Michael Clarke's got through his work particularly well in the last few days, had a long, solid session in the nets today so he's come through pretty well and Dougie's the unlucky quick who misses out." <br /><br />Clarke had been suffering from a recurrence of a back problem that has dogged him for much of his career and missed training on Monday. The return of his vice captain and anointed successor -- not to mention a top order batsman with 64 Tests and 4,549 runs to his name -- will be a huge boost to Ponting as he looks to take the fight to England. <br /><br />"We've done enough talking, enough training, enough preparation, it's game time and we're all excited about that," said the 35-year-old, who is keen to avoid the ignominy of being the first Australia captain to lose three Ashes series.</p>
