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England to keep guessing about Oz Ashes squad till Trent Bridge toss, says Lehmann

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ANI Sydney

Australian coach Darren Lehmann has intended to keep England guessing about their his team until the toss on Wednesday morning at Trent Bridge, figuring that they would have an element of surprise over England.

With England's Ashes line-up already being announced, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that there is unlikely to be late twists in the squad, while the same cannot be said for Australia, which will field a radically different team from the one that played the final Test in Delhi in March.

The report further said that three positions in the batting order are yet to be confirmed and the bowling attack would not be finalised until the selectors have had a glance at the pitch in Nottingham.

 

Stating that Australians had the element of surprise on their side, Lehmann said that they would probably name the team at 10.30 on the morning of the first Test, seeking any available advantage to put strong, settled England off its game.

Declining to confirm any player's position in the team except for the new opening pair of Shane Watson and Chris Rogers, Lehmann strongly hinted about a positive chance of having Ed Cowan in the squad, saying that they are yet to work out whether he is in the top six or not.

Lehmann, who has taken special note of India's batting implosion against spin, especially of batsman Ravi Ashwin's, during the Border-Gavaskar series, has signalled a fresh approach to England's experienced off-spinner Swann, who feasts on left-handed batsmen.

Stating that Australia needed to work on spinning, as they did not play their spinners well in India, Lehmann also said that they have got to learn from experience and play a certain way against spin bowling.

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First Published: Jul 07 2013 | 2:29 PM IST

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