SYDNEY, April 5: Australia have broken with tradition by choosing two leg-spinners in a 16-man squad for this year’s Ashes tour of England.

In recent tours to England, the selectors opted for at least one finger spinner but both Stuart MacGill and Shane Warne have been selected this time in the hope of exposing the home side’s vulnerability to wrist-spin.

Australia have not chosen two leg-spinners for an Ashes tour since 1953 and while Warne, as world record holder for Test wickets, is an automatic choice, chairman Trevor Hohns said MacGill deserved his spot after being overlooked last time.

“Stuart has done everything asked of him when he’s been included in the Test team,” Hohns said.

“He is a quality spinning option for us who is quite accustomed to English conditions from his county cricket experiences.”

There were no major surprises in the squad although middle-order batsman Darren Lehmann, who served as vice-captain just six months ago, missed out after being dropped in January.

His place was taken by the uncapped Brad Hodge, who toured New Zealand last month.

The only other uncapped player in a squad overflowing with talent was South Australian paceman Shaun Tait, who was rewarded with a place after capturing 65 first-class wickets this season.

With the Australians already boasting the pace quartet of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz and Brett Lee, Tait is unlikely to play in the five Tests but is being groomed to take over when the others eventually retire.

“We have identified Shaun as a rising talent and this is a selection with a view to the future,” Hohns said.

“He is a quality, young quick who has impressed us all with his raw pace. It’s a great opportunity for him to learn from the experienced group of fast-bowlers we have in this squad.”

Brad Haddin was chosen as reserve wicket-keeper for both the Test and one-day squads to ease the workload on Adam Gilchrist.

All-rounders Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson were both overlooked for the Test squad but made the limited-overs side. Brad Hogg and Mike Hussey were also included as one-day specialists.

Australia’s tour starts in mid-June with a one-day triangular series against England and Bangladesh followed by another three-match limited overs series against England.

The first of five Tests gets underway at Lord’s on July 21 and although Australia have won the past eight series, England have climbed up to second place in the world Test rankings in the last 12 months.

“We know this tour will be a big challenge as England is playing with confidence on the back of a very successful run,” Hohns said.

“In saying that, we feel we have chosen two flexible squads that will give us a range of options in both the Test and One-day International components of the tour.”

Test squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain), Michael Clarke, Jason Gillespie, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Michael Kasprowicz, Simon Katich, Justin Langer, Brett Lee, Stuart MacGill, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Tait, Shane Warne.

One-day squad: Ponting (captain), Gilchrist (vice-captain), Clarke, Gillespie, Haddin, Hayden, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Kasprowicz, Katich, Lee, Martyn, McGrath, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson.—Reuters