Pace The Key to Winning the Ashes

As proven in the first Npower Ashes test match in Cardiff, the quality of spin bowling on offer from both sides will fail to make a serious impact on the series.

Nathan Hauritz, for all his commitment and guile, was lucky to get the wicket of KP in the first innings, and got wickets in the second due to the massive pressure on the England batsmen.

When Australia needed the wicket of either Anderson or Panesar to seal the game, Hauritz lost his threat, and became increasingly playable for the tail-end pair.

Swann and Panesar for England were even less effective. Swann pitched the ball up far too often and offered easy full tosses for the Australian top and middle order to dispatch to the boundary.

Panesar, in the words of the great Shane Warne "has played one Test, 38 times". He lacks variety and imagination. All too often he relies on his relentless accuracy, but over time this becomes easily readable.

Recalling Harmison for Lord's is a must. The Durham pace man has the upper hand over the opener Phil Hughes and is physically very imposing on the pitch. Harmison seems to have recovered from his mishaps of the 2006-07 Ashes in Australia, and is in a rich vein of form for county and the England Lions.

Pace is what the Ashes is about. Whether it be the showman Flintoff, the fiery Siddle or the devastating swing of Anderson, spells of powerful seam bowling can often change the outcome of the series.

Get rid of one of the two spinners, and use the remaining spinner sparingly—turn at Lord's is a rarity.