The Ashes 2013 team preview - Australia: When Goliath became David

Weaknesses :

You’re just not talented enough: Some people blame the current crop of players for not being gritty enough in times of adversaries. But the truth is that they are just not talented enough.

Barring Michael Clarke, the team has been shuffling and re-structuring ever since the famous 5-0 drubbing Down Under in 2006/07. The incoming youngsters had big boots to fill, but haven’t managed to do so. Phillip Hughes and Ed Cowan had a very disappointing Indian tour, consistently failing throughout the tourney. The Ashes will prove to be a litmus test in knowing whether or not they have it in them to thrive under pressure in alien conditions.

The Next Shane Warne Insanity: Ever since Shane Warne hung up his boots, any budding spinner to come through the ranks and represent Australia has been named as the next ‘Shane Warne’; the truth, however, is that none of them even comes close.

First there was Nathan Hauritz (who Jeff Thompson said was not even a spinner), then there was Xavier Doherty, and now there is Nathan Lyon; even rookies like Ashton Agar are being compared to the legend. Nathan Lyon will spearhead Australia’s attack this summer in the spin department; and with England being blessed with the best spinner in the world at the moment, Australia really need to up their game and hope that Lyon produces the best display of spin bowling he ever will.

Inexperience galore for the Baggies: No player, barring the captain, has played more than fifty Test matches at the highest level, with only four players having played above four Tests.

The Australian side lacks experience as much as the English boast of it. That half the players have never travelled with the national squad to the British shores could also hurt the Aussies. The fans will be hoping that the 0-4 humbling at the hands of India would go a long way in helping the side mature mentally and give them another perspective as to how to approach their game when the opposition is better and stronger and fitter than them.

X-Factor :

Can Watson be back to his destructive ways against England?

Shane Watson - The mercurial all-rounder, who was once being bred as Clarke’s under-study to take over the reins when he retired, has endured a rather tough twelve months, hitting a low point when he was banned from playing in a Test match due to ‘homework’ issues.

However, the arrival of Lehmann has said to have upped his morale a few notches and he displayed his destructive nature with the bat in the games leading up to the Ashes. Already confirmed by Lehmann as the first-choice opener, Watson’s form, or the lack of it, could play a crucial role in Australia’s quest to reclaim the famous urn.