Anderson's expertise offers tourists cause for optimism

England's cricketers will be keen to make amends for the failings of their predecessors on the 2013-14 Ashes tour, during which the team imploded when faced with the irresistibly hostile bowling of Mitchell Johnson, backed up by the indefatigable Ryan Harris and aided by a healthy side dish of misplaced confidence.

Conventional wisdom suggests that an Aussie victory is inevitable thanks to home advantage, injuries to key English players, meaningless preparatory games and the absence of Ben Stokes, the team's talismanic all-rounder.

Well, unlike many of my English compatriots, I don't think it's a foregone conclusion. In fact, Australia's somewhat bizarre selections for the first Test have provided reason for optimism and whetted my appetite for Brisbane, even though England haven't won a Test at the "Gabbatoir" since 1986.