Stewart's gloves come off as England get ready to fight

The England captain stands aside to let Lancashire's Warren Hegg keep wicket in a four-day match against an Australian XI starting here Saturday.

Stewart's form has slumped as he has struggled to cope with the duties of captain, wicketkeeper and No. 4 batsman on this tour, which has already seen Australia retain the Ashes by taking an unbeatable 2-0 lead after three of the five Tests.

Stewart and the England selectors had hoped his versatality would allow an effective extra bowler or batsman, or the allrounder Ben Hollioake at No. 7, to emerge. But Hollioake has failed to meet expectations and the English do not have the strength in depth to supply the extra man.

The Australian XI facing the tourists on Saturday are all fringe Test players and captain Darren Lehmann, kept out of the Test side by Ricky Ponting, is keen to hold England down.

``It's a good opportunity to impress the selectors that we're ready to play and hopefully keep England down,'' he said.

But he did not think Ponting, under a cloud as his form sagged while agonising over whether to tell the Australian Cricket Board about being approached by a bookmaker, would necessarily be dropped for the fourth Test starting at Melbourne on December 26.

``Everyone's been speculating about Ricky's position in the Australian side, but I don't think it's that cut and dried,'' he said. But he refused to write off the English. ``They have some very talented cricketers,'' he said. ``I'm surprised they haven't made as many runs as they should have with the quality of their batting, `` he said.

Australian selector Allan Border, who is coaching the Australian XI, has fired up the team by telling them the match is a sixth Test and a window of opportunity for them all.

``With the quality of the players we've got, and I expect England to field a pretty good side, it's basically the sixth Test of the summer,'' he said.

``And our blokes are going to approach it with that much intensity. ``They have plenty to play for. When those little windows open up a bit, these are the guys who are going to jump through it.''

Border all but ruled Shane Warne out of contention for the remaining two Tests against England -- provided Stuart MacGill's slight hamstring injury comes good.

The former Australian captain said Warne needed to take as much time as possible to get back to his best. Warne, on the comeback from a shoulder operation, has been bowling with indifferent results for Victoria.

``He's probably just a few weeks from bowling somewhere near his best,'' Border said. ``So that will probably count him out of the Test series. It would have been nice for him to make his big entrance at the MCG for the fairy tale comeback, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.''

Border was also uncertain whether Warne should be brought back for the one-dayers, or left to play Sheffield Shield cricket where he'd get much more bowling. That would be decided in consultation with Warne.

With MacGill bowling so well, the selectors can afford to be patient. ``How lucky are we, to have a guy like Stuart MacGill come into the breach,'' Border said. ``He's maturing all the time and you can almost envisage the day when we bowl two crackerjack leggies.''

Then there's the fairy tale rise of Colin Miller, the seamer/off spinner. ``Funky Miller is one of the great stories,'' Border said. ``He's done a great job. Filling the two-in-one role for us has just been brilliant.

``And it's great that Australian cricket can still throw up old school-type players like him.''

Border said Miller could develop into a specialist off spinner. ``He's 34, but a young 34,'' he said. ``There's nothing to stop him competing very well to 38 and beyond.''

England manager Graham Gooch agreed his side faced a tremendously strong team here this weekend. ``It's a game we need to win to get confidence,'' he said.

``We need a good performance so we are in the right heart for the Fourth Test. ``