Team: New South Wales
Born: 2.6.65
Right-hand batsman

Perhaps the fiercest competitor in world cricket, Waugh led Australia to 16 successive Test victories before India ended their sensational streak.

His batting has remained as consistent as ever with a century and an average of almost 50 in the three Tests.

He was bitterly dispappointed to lose the series 2-1 to India and his verbal jousting with counterpart Sourav Ganguly showed just how committed he was.

He is just as determined to defeat England on home soil this summer.
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Damien Fleming

Team: Victoria
Born: 24.4.70
Right-arm fast medium bowler, right-hand batsman

Best known for having taken a hat-trick against Pakistan in his first Test in 1994.

Having taken two wickets in successive balls to end an over, he told his team-mates during a drinks break that he would complete the treble and did not disappoint.

His swing bowling could prove useful in English conditions after claiming just one wicket in his only Indian Test appearance.
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Adam Gilchrist

Team: Western Australia
Born: 14.11.71
Left hand batsman; wicket-keeper

A worthy successor to Ian Healy, Gilchrist has proved himself a talented and versatile international cricketer.

His average has dipped below 50 after a struggle in India, but found his one-day touch to help Australia to a series win.

His one-day batting, where he opens the innings, can demoralise opposition bowlers with his vast array of shots.

He is the side's vice-captain and will be determined to put the Indian disappointment behind him.
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Jason Gillespie

Team: South Australia
Born: 19.4.75
Right arm fast bowler; right hand batsman

Involved in a horrific incident in Sri Lanka two years ago when a collision while fielding left Gillespie with a broken leg and skipper Steve Waugh with a fractured nose.

Proved he was back to his best with 20 wickets in four Tests against West Indies and and 13 in three Tests in India.

Injury-prone, a foot ailment will prevent him from playing until May, but when fit he is a big threat.
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Matthew Hayden

Team: Queensland
Born: 29.10.71
Left hand opening batsman

A brilliant tour of India where he averaged 109.8 seems to have cemented his spot at the top of the order.

He now boasts a Test average of more than 40 and carried his form into the one-day arena to score a century in the fourth match.

A former captain of Northamptonshire his form in India, which included a Test best of 203, will see him enter the Ashes with confidence
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Nathan Bracken

Team: New South Wales
Born: 12.09.77
Left-arm fast-medium bowler; right hand batsman

The young paceman has enjoyed a meteoric rise since he broke into the New South Wales side in 1998.

He has only played 13 first-class matches, and yet has appeared in nine one-day internationals for his country.

A lively customer with the new ball, his inclusion in the touring party came as something of a shock because he was widely regarded as a one-day specialist.

His left-armers will offer variety to the Australian pace attack.
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Simon Katich

Team: Western Australia
Born: 21.8.75
Left hand bat; Slow left arm chinaman bowler

The left-hander has been knocking on the door of Australian selection for a number of years but has only appeared in his national colours once.

Even then, in a one-day international, he failed to bat and did not get a bowl when he replaced captain Steve Waugh.

A prolific batsman in his one season with Durham, Katich hit three centuries and scored more than 1,000 runs in 2000 for the county.
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Justin Langer

Team: Western Australia
Born: 21.11.70
Left hand batsman

Took time to win a regular place after making his debut for Australia in 1993, but has been Australia's first-choice number three in recent seasons.

His form against against India and West Indies has not been great, but his experience with Middlesex could prove invaluable.

He has seven hundreds to his name and needs a strong series to reassert his place as the best first drop in Australia.
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Brett Lee

Team: New South Wales
Born: 8.11.76
Right-arm fast bowler; Right-hand batsman

Reputed to be the fastest bowler in world cricket, Lee has been dogged by injuries since he exploded onto the world stage.

In just seven Tests he has snared 42 victims at an astonishing average of just 16.07 and is handy with the bat also.

Much will depend on whether he is able to function at full speed following surgery on his elbow.
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Damien Martyn

Team: Western Australia
Born: 21.10.71
Right hand batsman; right arm medium pace bowler

Would be an automatic selection in most Test sides, but has had to make the most of limited opportunities for Australia.

Martyn likes to bat aggressively and is a prolific scorer for his state team with 25 centuries and 48 fifties to his credit, although he has yet to register a Test hundred.

He is a mainstay of the Australian one-day side but is desperate to make it in Test cricket.
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Glenn McGrath

Team: New South Wales
Born: 9.2.70
Right arm fast medium bowler; right had batsman

Rated as the finest new ball bowler in the game today by Fred Trueman and few would argue with the former England paceman.

Supremely confident, his contest with Sachin Tendulkar in India was a series highlight.

He excelled in India to claim 17 wickets in the series and repeatedly got a breakthrough at the start of an innings.

He now has 326 Test wickets and is fast closing in on Dennis Lillee's record of 355 victims.
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Colin Miller

Team: Victoria
Born: 6.2.64
Right arm off break/medium pace bowler; right hand batsman

Had to wait until the age of 34 for a chance at international level and has certainly made the most of his opportunity, a fact recognised by his recent selection as Australia's Test Player of the Year.

He can bowl seam up, but the selectors regard him as a front-line spinner after 20 wickets in the home series against West Indies, a return which prompted them to leave Stuart MacGill at home for the tour of India.

He did not get much of a run in India, but did claim six wickets in the third Test.

It remains to be seen if his hair stays one colour during the tour after he dyed it blue in Australia.
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Ricky Ponting

Team: Tasmania
Born: 19.12.74
Right hand batsman; right arm medium pace bowler

Ponting was still a few days short of his 21st birthday when he made his first Test appearance against Sri Lanka, an occasion he marked with a magnificent innings of 96.

Off the field incidents subsequently tarnished his reputation.

He has also had to overcome a number of injuries, including an ankle problem sustained when he slid into the boundary fence at the Sydney Cricket Ground during a one-day international in 1999.

Ponting had a shocking Indian tour, amassing just 17 runs in five innings, and will be anxious to rediscover his form in England.
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Michael Slater

Team: New South Wales
Born: 21.2.70
Right hand batsman

Slater's approach to Test match batting is refreshingly simple - seek to dominate the opposition attack from the first ball.

It is an approach has made him one of the best players to watch from a spectator point of view and one of the hardest to bowl to.

He pulverises the English attack everytime he confronts them with seven of his 14 Test tons coming against the auld enemy.

In India he was involved in a heated debate about a disputed catch which illustrates the passion he has for the game.
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Shane Warne

Team: Victoria
Born: 13.9.69
Right arm leg-spin bowler; right hand batsman

The most successful spin bowler in Test history, Warne has set his sights on taking 500 wickets before the end of his career.

But after a less than successful tour of India where his bowling average was over 50, doubts have surfaced about his enduring effectiveness.

He has been hit with a series of niggling injuries, including a serious shoulder problem, that have made him less of a threat.

But he was second in the English bowling averages in 2000 for Hampshire and has enjoyed the upper hand against England in the past.
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Mark Waugh

Team: New South Wales
Born: 2.6.65
Right hand batsman; right arm off-spin bowler

Arguably the most elegant batsman in world cricket, Waugh overcame the cloud of being named in a cricket corruption report produced by Indian police.

He did not have the best of times in India and was forced home from the tour after breaking his thumb.

He began his Test career with a hundred against England, the first of 18 so far and will be favoured to add to that this summer.
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