Australia have named their 17 strong squad for this summer’s home Ashes tournament against England.
There are few surprises in the squad, which featured many names from the Ashes tour of England 18 months ago, and is captained by Ricky Ponting.
Michael Clarke is named as vice captain despite his back injury niggles appearing to resurface in his last match for NSW.
Batsmen Simon Katich, Mike Hussey and Marcus North all keep their places, despite the former having struggled with injury and the latter two men with form.
The squad will be cut down to 12 or 13 in time for the Ashes opener at Brisbane on 25th November 2010.
Australia – 17 Man Ashes Squad
Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Doug Bollinger, Xavier Doherty, Callum Ferguson, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Nathan Hauritz, Mike Hussey, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Usman Khawaja, Marcus North, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Shane Watson