Players not on red alert in selection showdown

Australia Test captain Tim Paine has played down talk that next week's highly-anticipated intra-squad clash will serve solely as a selection shootout for Ashes spots.

Paine and the Australia A squad will travel to Southampton from Canterbury on Thursday to link up with the World Cup and county players in the 25-strong squad that will compete in the 12-per-side match from next Tuesday.

With Australia's Ashes squad set to be named at the conclusion of the four-day encounter, Paine says the contest will be an intense hit-out ahead of the first Test at Edgbaston, starting on August 1.

But with the majority of the Ashes squad already settled after months of planning, Paine said only a handful of spots are up for grabs, meaning in won’t quite be the selection showdown it has been billed as.

"I don't think the game in Southampton is going to be an out-and-out trial game and everyone is on red alert," Paine said after his side drew with England Lions in Canterbury.

"We know the players we've got in this squad. We know potentially what the make-up of our team looks like, but we want to make sure we've got all bases covered and next week is another opportunity just to make sure we've got a squad that ticks all boxes for all conditions."

The 25 players in Southampton are set to be whittled down to 16 for the Ashes squad, according to national selector Trevor Hohns.

Speaking last week, Hohns said while “12 or 13" players are locked in for the Ashes, up to four spots still remain unclear, making next week’s game a vital hit-out for those on the fringe.

The spots seemingly up for grabs are that of the fifth pace bowler, the reserve wicketkeeper, back-up batsman and whether or not the selectors pick a reserve frontline spinner.

Hohns said the Ashes aspirants had this week’s Lions match – which ended in a draw – and the all-Australian game in Southampton to push their final claims for selection.

It's why both Hohns and Paine are expecting a fierce match at the Ageas Bowl.

"We think it's going to be really, really intense. That's what we're after," Paine said.

"(The match against the Lions) was a good practice game, but sometimes touring teams can have tour games that peter out into pretty ordinary games of cricket at times.

"So we're lucky to have a great hit-out here (against the Lions) and we'll certainly have a good one amongst ourselves next week.

"We've got guys playing for Ashes spots so we expect it to be of an extremely high, competitive intensity."

With so many high-calibre players vying for so few positions, Hohns says he’s preparing to make some difficult decisions.

"There is certainly going to be some disappointed players and rightly so, but that's the position we're in right now with what consider to be reasonable depth," Hohns said.

"That (depth) is yet to be tested but we consider we've got some good depth, some good talent and plenty available for selection."

2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England

Tour match: Australia v Australia A, July 23-26

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