Under-pressure Aussies Take on England Without Johnson

Adelaide: Ponting has confirmed Johnson has been dropped from the side after his ineffective performance at the Gabba, with Ryan Harris and Doug Bollinger vying for his place.

England captain Andrew Strauss said the axing of Mitchell Johnson from Australia's squad for the second Test was a massive decision but said the visitors won't be fazed by whoever steps in to fill the paceman's shoes.

Strauss said England were not concerned by all the hype surrounding Australia's selection for the Test match in Adelaide and conceded paying too much attention to their opponents could be detrimental to their own preparation.

The skipper acknowledged England may have 'batted' Australia's bowlers out of the match in Brisbane but denied his side will be 'sidetracked' by focussing on that performance, adding with the series still tied at 0-0 England are yet to achieve anything.

"I think Mitchell has been a very good performer for Australia over a number of years," said Strauss on Thursday.

"The theme of our preparation has been very much one of making sure we keep our feet on the ground and realising it's nil-all in the series and we haven't achieved anything yet. If we want to achieve anything we've got to steal ourselves for another very tough five days of cricket", said English skipper.

Kevin Pietersen produced a bright start in Brisbane, with 43 when the conditions were at their toughest on the opening day. Just as he was starting to shine brightly he pushed at Peter Siddle and edged to second slip.

With Australia Captain Ricky Ponting admitting earlier on Thursday that Australia were yet to finalise their final XI despite dropping Johnson, Strauss also confirmed England would settle their squad on Friday morning, the opening day of the second Test.

The visitors' skipper hinted it was unlikely England would make changes to the XI that played at the Gabba admitting he was happy with the performance from his side in Brisbane.

Strauss did say he believed the instability and speculation surrounding Australia's line could be an advantage and play into the visitors' hands with either Ryan Harris or Doug Bollinger tipped to come into the squad in place of Johnson.

Strauss added England would issue 'slight' caution to whoever gets the call up with both Harris and Bollinger more than capable replacements.

Ricky Ponting was relieved when he was able to leave the Gabba with an unbeaten half-century on Monday. He did enough to show some much-needed form in the Test arena and convince himself he's on target for a huge score. As Australia showed in the first game, they need their captain to fire, and will hope he does it on a ground he loves. Ponting is the leading scorer in Adelaide with 1433 runs, including five centuries and a high of 242, in 14 Tests.

Team from

Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke (vice-capt), Doug Bollinger, Xavier Doherty, Brad Haddin (wk), Michael Hussey, Ben Hilfenhaus, Simon Katich, Usman Khawaja, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Shane Watson, Marcus North, Ryan Harris

England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (vice-captain), Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wk), Steve Davies (wk), Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Chris Tremlett, Monty Panesar, Graeme Swann

Pitch and conditions
This will be the first Test in charge for the curator Damian Hough, who has replaced Les Burdett after his four decades at the ground. Hough expects a traditional Adelaide wicket, which means lots of runs and some unpredictable bounce late in the game. The forecast for the opening day is mostly fine, with a top temperature of 30C, while Saturday's maximum is expected to be 35C.

Stats and trivia

• The last time Australia drew at the Gabba, they followed up with a four-wicket defeat in Adelaide. That was against India in 2003-04. England last drew the opening Test of an Ashes tour in 1998-99, which they followed with losses in Perth and Adelaide
• After last week's run-fest, when Cook became the highest scorer at the Gabba with his 235, the players will have to do a lot better to beat the ground's high mark. Don Bradman's 299 is the top score, while England's best is Paul Collingwood's 206 four years ago
• Two players involved in the match will start it with batting averages of more than 200 at the venue. Brad Haddin's mean is 245 in two Tests, while Collingwood's is 228 after one match.
• Australia have won 16 of 29 Tests against England at Adelaide, while they lost only eight occasions.
• Only four of the specialist bowlers in both squads have played Tests in Adelaide. Johnson has played there three times, while Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger and James Anderson have played there once.

Match facts
December 03-07, 2010
Start time 10:30 local (00:00 GMT)