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England’s capitulation in the face of aggressive pace bowling at Brisbane has all but ensured Australia will field four frontline quicks for the WACA Test.
It has also made it likely the fourth frontline pacemen will be a firebrand rather than the more dependable, yet less threatening likes of Ben Hilfenhaus, James Faulkner or Chadd Sayers.
Ben Cutting, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Doug Bollinger and Sayers are reportedly set to be rested from the Sheffield Shield round to begin on December 8 in order to have them fresh should they be needed at the WACA.
The Perth deck is predicted to offer extravagant pace and bounce to the pacemen.
Having inflicted significant psychological scars at the Gabba via menacing spells from Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris, Australia will undoubtedly look to ram home this advantage at the WACA.
With Peter Siddle and Shane Watson already providing Australia frugal offerings in the region of 130-135kmh, the selectors will probably opt to include another intimidating quick.
Cutting from Queensland and WA’s Coulter-Nile are the most logical choices to carry out an enforcer role.
Cutting enhanced his prospects of an Ashes debut with an incisive spell of bowling for Australia A on the final day of the tour match against England in Hobart.
That spell of 2-17 from 9 overs prompted widespread praise from sage observers including England coach Andy Flower who said Cutting “bowled superbly”.
“He bowled a perfect length for that pitch and he was good on the first day as well, I thought, without much luck,” Flower told cricinfo.
“But he was excellent today. It was good for us to face that sort of quality bowling.”
While Cutting’s success on that occasion was due to finding movement from a full length, the tall Queenslander is renowned for having a vicious short ball.
His start to the Shield season has been underwhelming but he is clearly being closely monitored by the selectors.
His blossoming skill with the blade will further enhance his chances of securing an Ashes debut.
Australia’s chairman of selectors John Inverarity has often stated that his panel values multi-skilled cricketers.
Coulter-Nile, meanwhile, is capable of bowling at 145kmh and is one of those bowlers who appears to come on quicker to batsman than the speed gun would suggest, much like Harris.
He is also known for his capacity to inflict bodily harm, which is one of the Australian team’s new Key Performance Indicators.
Not insignificantly, Coulter-Nile is also a favourite of Shane Warne who seems to have had the ear of the Australian hierarchy since the instalment of his buddy Darren Lehmann as head coach.
Coulter-Nile bowled with a potent blend of skill and hostility as he snared match figures of 8-110 against Victoria at the WACA in the last round of the Sheffield Shield.
Of those eight wickets, only two were tailenders.
The right armer was WA’s player of the season last summer, albeit in a horror campaign for the Warriors.
He was recently handed an ODI debut in England where he showed promising signs.
He has long been on the radar of the selectors and, although his first-class record of 98 wickets at 28 is not brilliant, his home ground knowledge may get him the nod.
Similar to Cutting, Coulter-Nile is a decent lower-order batsman capable of scoring handy runs.
He may just get the opportunity to tuck into the Poms on his home ground in 12 days time.