Horses for courses could prolong careers: Paine

Test captain Tim Paine believes the 'horses for courses' selection strategy for Australia's stable of prize pace bowlers could help prolong their international careers.

Australia's selectors picked six fast bowlers in their 17-man Ashes squad to face England with the plan to customise each attack to suit the conditions at each venue across the five Tests, starting in Birmingham on Thursday.

Paine says Australia's Test outfit has leant on the services of the 'Big 3' fast bowlers of Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood for too long and hopes the new approach to selection will increase the longevity of the country's top pacemen.

"As JL (Australia coach Justin Langer) said, we’re going to pick the team we think is going to win each Test match given the conditions we get when we arrive at those venues,” Paine said. “And the bowlers are across that.

"I think that’s a great thing for our team – to have a really strong mix of fast bowlers who can all play in different conditions.

"But as we’ve said to the fast bowlers, it’s actually a great thing for them as well because we can now prolong their careers for a few years.

"The last two or three years, we’ve been way too reliant on Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood – they’ve played a lot of Tests and subsequently picked up lots of niggly injuries along the way.

"It’s a positive for all those guys.

"Another one is Peter Siddle, he can get another 12 months of Test cricket if we keep picking guys for the conditions.

"That’s the way we’ve sold it to them. It’s a great thing for the team but it’s also a great thing for them individually."

Victorian speedster James Pattinson will perhaps welcome the new selection outlook more than most having endured a horror run of injuries during his stop-start international career.

Pattinson underwent surgery in late 2017 when another back stress fracture appeared and after a long road back, he has returned to the peak of his powers to play in the Ashes series' opener, his first Test since February 2016.

The 29-year-old is now determined to extend his career into his mid-30s, and he understands the best way to do that is by sharing the load with his pace comrades.

"I've been working closely with (Victoria coach) Andrew McDonald … and one of his messages to me was 'I want to try and get you to 35 (years old) and not 30' (and still playing cricket)," Pattinson said.

"That's something that really hit home with me, that I want to try and be around for the next six years and not one year.

"I've been through all this surgery to try and do that.

"As big as an Ashes series is, you have to think of it long-term.

"If that's resting after bowling a fair few overs, I'm sure the next guy coming in - or if I'm doing that for some other guy - it will help us long-term and hold us in good shape going into the (Australian) summer and beyond that."

The guy Pattinson could be coming for, or replacing him, might be fellow express paceman Starc.

The pair were deliberately placed on separate teams for Australia's intra-squad game in Southampton last week to give each side an out-and-out fast bowler in their attack.

While they might be competing for the same spot on the Ashes tour, Paine says Pattinson and Starc can certainly play together if conditions suit.

"At the moment, we probably are looking at them in a similar role and we want to make sure we get that combination right and the bowlers we pick are complementing each other," Paine said.

"If conditions are right for both of those two to play together, they certainly will.

"It’s not something we’ve said, 'we're only playing him (or) we’re only playing him'.

"We’re just making sure we get the right combination and have all bases covered." 

2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

England squad: Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes (vc), Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

First Test: August 1-5,Edgbaston

Tour match: Australians v Worcestershire, August 7-9

Second Test: August 14-18,Lord's

Third Test: August 22-26, Headingley

Tour match: Australians v Derbyshire, August 29-31

Fourth Test: September 4-8, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: September 12-16, The Oval