Australia coach Tim Nielsen not surprised by England Ashes squad

The Australia coach, Tim Nielsen, has not been surprised by England's selections for the Ashes, saying he expected Monty Panesar and Chris Tremlett to be named in the squad. "Height was probably the thing I noticed this morning when I saw the squad," he told AAP. "It was interesting to note they picked 6ft 7in Tremlett and went back to the left-arm orthodox in Panesar. "They're two things we expected, and in truth they're probably more depth players rather than first-selected players. They've gone for guys, one who can spin the ball away from the right-handers and another who they're hoping will make the ball bounce in Australia." Tremlett is joined in a tall bowling attack by 6ft 2in James Anderson, 6ft 5in Stuart Broad and 6ft 7in Steven Finn. Australia are in India, preparing for a two-Test series. "It will give us tremendous warm-up, practice and Test match cricket leading into the Australian summer," Nielsen said. "It is a pretty big series for us over here – we got beaten 2-0 last time and we've got some players coming over looking to atone for that, and every series we play as a Test match team at the moment with a younger group is really important for our development."