Tufnell was an object of derision on his first Australian tour because of his poor fielding, a famous banner at the SCG proclaiming, ``Chuck it here Phil, and I'll throw it in for you.''

Australian coach Geoff Marsh said he expected Tufnell to be selected to go head-to-head with Australian spin star Shane Warne, who is on target to return in time for the series starting in November.

Instead, England brought back Peter such to partner Robert Croft as the front-line spinners.

``There's no real surprises, not that I know a lot about the two spinners,'' Marsh said today.

``I know our guys rate Tufnell pretty highly on the test scene but Croft bowled well for them in the West Indies and has bowled well for them at other times.''

In the other borderline call, John Crawley claimed the lastbatting spot over Graeme Hick, who had a successful stint in Sheffield Shield Cricket with Queensland earlier in his career.

Marsh said he also thought Kiwi-born quick Andy Caddick might have added shine to a pace attack headlined by Darren Gough, Angus Fraser, Dominic Cork and Alan Mullaly.

``I guess the only surprise is we thought Caddick might come out but really they've rewarded guys for doing well throughout the summer,'' Marsh said.

Before this week's sobering loss to Sri Lanka, England had been celebrating both its series win over South Africa and news that Warne's recovery from shoulder surgery could continue into the Ashes series.

But Marsh warned England not to get too hopeful as Warne was becoming increasingly confident of recovering from shoulder surgery.

``Shane's very keen to play the first Test and some Shield games before it,'' Marsh said. ``The thing about Shane Warne is he loves playing cricket, loves being involved and around the team, is a great bowler and is great to have in thedressing room.''

``I don't know the medical side of it at the moment but I've spoken to Shane and he's very confident about it all.''