The former England captain, who had an injection to his lower back yesterday, was included in the 12-man squad for the Ashes opener.

But the gamble could backfire when he faces an Australian pace attack led by Glenn McGrath, who dismissed Atherton seven times in six Tests in England last year.

Seven of the nine times McGrath has taken Atherton's wicket have been to bouncers and Atherton's bad back restricts foot movement, which leaves him a sitting duck.

McGrath said he was looking forward to finding out exactly how restricted Atherton was. ``I'll probably loosen him up with a few short ones,'' McGrath said ominously.

``If he's got a bit of a dodgy back then he's probably not getting under (short balls) as well as he would like to do,'' McGrath added after today's nets.

``I've quite a bit of success against Athers, last timehe was captain as well as probably one of the linchpins in the team. If we can knock him over early it sets us up and puts us in a better position,'' he said.

Such is England's concern for its top order, seven specialist batsmen were named for the Ashes opener on a pitch with a healthy grass coverage likely to suit fast bowlers.

And with Mark Butcher making only nine runs from five first class innings on tour, England had little option but to go with Atherton.

John Crawley was also included in the squad despite being assaulted in Cairns last Sunday night. He suffered cuts and bruises to his face but was one of the seven batsmen named by England for the Test which will face battery of Australian fast bowlers.

With no Shane Warne to bamboozle England's batsman, Australia have gone for pace to take advantage of the Brisbane and Perth wickets in the first two Tests.

McGrath and the resurrected Jason Gillespie hope to emulate Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson who terrorised England 23 yearsago.

Gillespie, who got help from Lillee to remodel his action which had caused stress fractures to his lower back, looks like getting the nod over Michael Kasprowicz for the third fast bowler's spot behind McGrath and Damien Fleming.

Captain Mark Taylor, who will be playing his 100th Test on Friday, is known to favour Gillespie's raw pace and aggression and Kasprowicz said after today's nets he would not be surprised to be carrying the drinks on Friday.

Gillespie claimed a career-best 7-37 at Headingley last year to set Australia up with a 2-1 series lead.

England also chose a three-pronged pace attack headed by Darren Gough with support from Alan Mullally and seamer Angus Fraser while off-spinner Robert Croft got the nod over Peter Such.

Former England great Ian Bothom warned Australia not to underestimate Atherton's fighting qualities. ``He's a world class player and not many sides have got players of that sort of quality,'' said Botham, who will be commentator on the series.

Meanwhile Englandbatsman Graeme Hick arrived in Australia today to help bolster the tourists' chances of winning the Ashes.

A surprise omission from the squad, Hick was added to the team because of concerns over the fitness of batsmen Michael Atherton and John Crawley. Hick was not named in the 12 for the first Test.

Teams

England: Alec Stewart (captain), Michael Atherton, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, Mark Ramprakash, John Crawley, Dominic Cork, Robert Croft, Darren Gough, Alan Mullally, Angus Fraser (12th man to be named).

Australia: Mark Taylor (captain), Steve Waugh (vice-captain), Michael Slater, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Ian Healy, Jason Gillespie, Damien Fleming, Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath, Michael Kasprowicz (12th man to be named).