Australian selections

Darren Lehmann's international career is almost certainly over after he was dropped from the Australian side to tour New Zealand. Matthew Hayden has been retained and newish names Mike Hussey (who has played one game for Australia) and James Hopes (who has played none) have been bought in.

Hussey is a middle order batsman with a career average of 51.86. He is 29 and in English county cricket has been lethal. Kerry O'Keefe however thinks he has plateaued and has said "I no longer hold great hopes for him". One of O'Keefe's reasons for this is that Hussey seems to be a slow wicket player only - which might actually be a good thing for him on this tour given the usual state of New Zealand wickets and the injury status of our quicks.

Hopes is an all-rounder and at 26 is the youngster in an ageing side. I suspect he is being picked as a one-day specialist as his bowling is described as being "medium paced" and "tight". A first class bowling average of 50.47 certainly doesn't herald too much threat. His first class batting average is 28.80.

The full Australian squad to tour New Zealand is:

Ricky Ponting (capt)
Adam Gilchrist (wk)
Michael Clarke
Jason Gillespie
Matthew Hayden
Brad Hogg
James Hopes
Michael Hussey
Michael Kasprowicz
Simon Katich
Brett Lee
Damien Martyn
Glenn McGrath
Andrew Symonds.