The wicket in South Australia promises to be a little more lively for the bowlers than the one which greeted them in the latter days at the Gabba.
Despite the lack of wickets, the only change appears to be Australian quick Mitchell Johnson after his wicket-less performance in Brisbane.
It is expected, Doug Bollinger will replace Johnson, while Ryan Harris remains a chance despite talk of a knee complaint with Ben Hilfenhaus perhaps a chance of dropping out.
On Johnson’s axeing, Australia skipper Ricky Ponting said: “Mitchell Johnson is out of the side, so we are down to the other quickies left and we’ll decide the final make-up of the XI in the morning.
“The selectors felt that he just down on a bit of form and down on a bit of rhythm, I think that was probably highlighted in the last game.
“As we all know, the game of Test match cricket is hard enough as it is without having to try and find those types of things in the middle of a Test match.’’
Australia’s attack was not alone in battling in Brisbane, so England’s bowlers will know they need to improve in Adelaide.
There has been talk paceman Steve Finn could be dropped for Ajmal Shahzad but England skipper Andrew Strauss denied a change would be made, stating his side is happily settled.
“My experience, in playing international cricket, is that lack of stability is not a good thing - when you’re not sure what your best XI is,” he said.
“That means people are generally a bit concerned about their place in the side. In that sense, that’s a good thing for us.”
England appear to take some momentum into the second Test after rescuing a draw in Brisbane, but Strauss remains wary of the Australians.
“I think we’ve got to be just slightly wary of the guys they’ve got in their squad,” he said.
“They’re good performers, who’ve had a lot of success in Test cricket. We’ve got to be good enough to contend with them.”
Likely teams; *Australia;’ '’Ricky Ponting (c), Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin, Xavier Doherty, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger’’*England;’’’ '’Andrew Strauss (c), Alistair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Jimmy Anderson, Steve Finn