Lee injury, disaster or blessing in disguise?

The wait is finally over. Judgement day for all Australian and English cricket supporters has finally arrived. After the three warm up matches played so far, it is still impossible to pick a winner for the 2009 Ashes series...

It's less than three hours out from the first ball of the first test in Cardiff, Wales, and as usual, both captains are holding their cards close to their chests. Both sides have one big decision to make; England must decide weather they want to play two spinners, Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, or go with the more conventional single spinner and play the miserly Graham Onions. 

From Australia's point of view, the side strain injury to Brett Lee, who was Australia's best bowler in their warm up game against the England Lions in Worcester, has sorted out one selection headache and created another; will they still decide to go in with four quicks, with Ben Hilfenhaus replacing Lee, alongside Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle? Or will they play the spinner Nathan Hauritz along with the latter three pacemen mentioned?

Although the Lee injury may have made the team selection for Cardiff somewhat easier on the selectors, it had certainly made Australia's hunt for victory a hell of a lot more difficult. Brett Lee bowled brilliantly in the England Lions match, bowling consistently over 150 kph and reverse swinging his way to seven wickets in the match. 

But losing Lee may not be as big a problem as many may think. With the main strike out for at least two matches, it will be up to Mitchell Johnson to again lead an inexperienced and somewhat under prepared bowling attack. 

As he showed in his last two test series, when given the huge task of leading Australia's bowling attack, Mitchell Johnson thrives. With only the 21 tests to his name, he was Australia's leading wicket taker in the home series against South Africa, and with no Stuart Clark or Brett Lee, pretty much single handedly demolished the Proteas in the return series in South Africa. When given the toughest of challenges, history suggests that Johnson obliges. 

And so it begins again. Australia vs England. The Ashes. The biggest series on the cricketing calendar. Three things come to ming when I think back to the corresponding 2005 Ashes series: thrilling, brilliant, heart breaking. It was arguably the most exciting and memorable series in cricket history, and although the sides look completely different, the resulting series should evoke the same kinds of emotions. Let's pray the gloomy English weather stays well away, and as they say, may the best team win. I just hope with all my heart, that that is Australia!