BRISBANE, Nov 6: England selected Craig White ahead of the struggling Andrew Flintoff for the first Ashes Test against Australia starting at the Gabba Thursday.

Flintoff, who has been battling to recover from a hernia operation, failed a fitness test on Wednesday for the first game of the five-Test series.

Australia, meanwhile, dropped fast bowler Brett Lee and replaced him with veteran paceman Andy Bichel.

England coach Duncan Fletcher said: “We had a tough choice... We just felt that the first Test has come round a couple of days too early for Andrew following his comeback.”

White will complement a three-man pace attack including young pace bowler Simon Jones, while left-arm spinner Ashley Giles was also picked.

White was not originally chosen in the Ashes squad but was called up from Adelaide, where he was playing grade cricket, as cover for Flintoff.

Both played in last weekend’s three-day match against Queensland in Brisbane but Flintoff complained of being sore afterwards.

White had had his own injury problems. Following back pains, he was recalled for the opening two Tests against India this summer only to suffer an abdominal strain after scoring an unbeaten 94 at Trent Bridge.

Lee and Bichel, meanwhile, were left fighting for the last fast bowler’s spot when Jason Gillespie was declared fit after missing the last two Tests against Pakistan.

“It was always going to be a tough decision but we just feel that Andy Bichel is bowling better at the moment and deserves his chance,” said captain Steve Waugh.

The captain added, in an unusual move, that although Lee had been officially included in the squad as 12th man, he had been excused from carrying the drinks so he could return home to get some match practice instead.

Waugh said it was decided after a meeting with the Australian Cricket Board that it was a waste of time having their 12th man sitting in the stands when he could be playing a first-class match somewhere else.

Two promising young local players, Mitchell Johnson, 21, and Daniel Payne, 24, were named as the substitute fielders with Johnson carrying the drinks for the first two days and Payne for the rest of the match.

“We thought it was a little bit unfair as players so we talked to the board about it and we’ve come to a flexible arrangement where we think if a player needs a good hitout then he’s available to play four-day cricket or grade cricket,” Waugh said.

“We’ve always considered the 12 should stay together but times have changed a bit and it necessitates a change of thinking.

“We just thought it was unfair for the guys who were continually not playing cricket.”

Teams:

Australia: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Steve Waugh (captain), Darren Lehmann, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Andy Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath.

England: Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain (captain), Alec Stewart, John Crawley, Craig White, Ashley Giles, Andrew Caddick, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones.

Umpires: Steve Bucknor (West Indies) and Rudi Koertzen (South Africa).

Match referee: Wasim Raja (Pakistan).—Reuters