from the bbc sport centre. good morning. the big news from australia is that england s record wicket taker james anderson won t be playing in the first ashes test, which starts tonight in brisbane. england say it s just a precaution he s fit, there s no injury, and they expect him to play a big part in the series. they re managing his workload and he ll spend the next five days fine tuning his skills in the nets. captainjoe root and head coach chris silverwood have thrown their faith behind 0llie pope, who s preferred to the more experienced jonny bairstow in a 12 man squad. and as expected, they ve included the returning ben stokes. england will have the option to play a spinner, with jack leach one of five bowlers in the squad. they ll make a late call on that. so it begins tonight and england are looking to win the first ashes series in australia for ten years. patrick gearey looks at a unique contest.