Despite the Bell-Pietersen hiccup yesterday, I still very strongly say that Ponting made the correct decision to go in with Hodge & not Johnson for the England match, though the services of the extra batsman were not required in the end. Tait, Bracken and Hogg all bowled very well. McGrath got his wickets, but went for a few runs when Bell found his range; Symonds is still a bit rusty, but will get better. Keep out Johnson!

I think Ponting should seriously look at juggling the powerplays a bit more. One way would be to open with Tait & Bracken and do the forst 10 overs between them. Then bring on McGrath (or Stuart Clark) and Symonds bowling his medium pacers for 4 overs with a non-PP filed and let the bolwers settle-in. Then have another 5-over PP session followed by introduction of spin and some more overs of non-PP. The final 5-over PP can be introduced around 25th to 29th over by bringing back Tait & Bracken for a brief stint, still leaving those two enough overs 'at the death'.

One advantage with juggling PPs is that it unsettles the batsmen's rhythm and might make them play the wrong shot with some fielders in an enforced but attacking position within the circle. That is why the last PP often seems to bring a crop of almost unexpected wickets