Aussies want Bailey to bludgeon Swann

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AUSTRALIA is planning to use George Bailey as a secret weapon to take down struggling England spinner Graeme Swann during the second Test, beginning in Adelaide on Thursday.

England need a big game from their ageing tweaker to claw back into the series but Australia is determined to hammer him out of the attack like they did in Brisbane, forcing the fast bowlers into more backbreaking toil on a flat drop-in pitch.

"We certainly wanted to keep bringing their best bowlers back into the game and try and tire them out. That worked," Bailey said of Australia's domination in Brisbane.

With Michael Clarke set to play despite not training Tuesday because of a rolled he suffered last Monday and Shane Watson declaring he is ready to do some heavy lifting to help preserve Australia's pace attack, Australia looks set to take an unchanged side into the match.

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This contrasts with a suddenly unsettled England, which is likely to promote Joe Root to number three in the absence of Jonathan Trott and hand former Zimbabwean Gary Balance his Test debut.

Fit again Tim Bresnan is also expected to play as the third seamer ahead of Chris Tremlett but the possibility of England including Monty Panesar as a second spinner on this dry pitch cannot be discounted.

The understated Clark Kent of Australian cricket, Bailey has the distinction of hitting more sixes than fours in his one-match Test career, having smacked Swann and part time off-spinner Joe Root over the Gabba boundary.

This is no fluke. Since Bailey joined the one-day team almost two years ago he has been superman, smashing 36 sixes in 35 matches as by far Australia's most productive 50-over player in that time.

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His record of more than a six a match puts Bailey ahead of Australia's biggest hitters, with Adam Gilchrist smacking 149 sixes in 287 one-day matches. Andrew Symonds hit 103 sixes in 198 matches, Mike Hussey 80 in 185 games and Shane Watson has 120 in 171 one-day matches.

Bailey's 50-over batting average is a phenomenal 55 and his strike rate of better than 92 also puts him alongside the likes of Gilchrist (97), Symonds (92), Watson (90) and Hussey (87).

It is that potency Australia's team hierarchy wants Bailey to unleash against Swann, particularly if the batsmen above Australia's Twenty20 captain can set the game up and get after the veteran spinner like they did at the Gabba.

Swann was the leading wicket-taker during the recent Ashes series in England on dry wickets specifically doctored for him but at the Gabba he had match figures of 2-215 and conceded four runs an over.

He was completely out-bowled by his Australian counterpart, Nathan Lyon, whose match figures were 4-63 from 29 overs.

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There is unlikely to be a surface in the country more favourable to Swann than Adelaide. If he fails to make an impact here it will be a long and difficult series for him and England.

For Australia Watson must soak up a significant number of overs if pace trio Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle are to be in reasonable shape for the pivotal Perth Test, which begins just three days after Adelaide.

Siddle failed to back up for Perth last season after bowling his heart out in Adelaide once James Pattinson broke down.

Watson bowled just two overs in Brisbane as he completed his recovery from a hamstring strain.

"If it's what we think it's going to be, the wicket will be flat and the bowlers will potentially have to bowl many more overs compared to Brisbane to bowl the English out," Watson said.

"That's a really important role, especially with back-to-back Test matches and how important it is for our quicks to be able to get through this Test, bowl well and pull up well.

"We certainly know we've got the bowlers to be able to exploit that Perth wicket, so I know how important it is for me to pick up the slack."

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