The Australian cricket selector Greg Chappell says poor batting performances from a number of Test hopefuls have not damaged their chances of playing in the Ashes.
Current and potential Test batsmen have struggled in Sheffield Shield matches this week and in the Ashes tour match between Australia A and England in Hobart.
But Chappell says those performances alone will not decide the make-up of the final eleven for the first Test at the Gabba next week.
Meanwhile former Australian bowler Geoff Lawson believes Ricky Ponting would be a better batsmen if he stood down as Australian captain.
Australia has slipped to fifth in the Test rankings and Lawson believes Ponting should take a leaf out of Sachin Tendulkar's book.
Tendulkar has said he stepped down to concentrate on his batting and Lawson points out how the Little Master won the recent series for India with several centuries while Ponting couldn't convert his higher scores into tons.
