Despite a renowned propensity for pace and shape, English quick Mark Wood has been left out of the tourist's XI for the pink ball Ashes Test set for the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
The 31-year-old's omission from the day-night battle has raised many an eyebrow given his skillset that seems tailor-made for the conditions, however, the twinned return of top-class seamers James Anderson and Stuart Broad should see Joe Root's men make some hay with the ball in hand.
Both Anderson and Broad were shock absentees for the series opener in Brisbane last week, with the word from the English camp being that the veteran duo were rested ahead of a heavy workload in Adelaide.
While the introduction of a collective with more than 1100 Test scalps is sure to be a sight for bleary eyes watching back in the United Kingdom, Wood's axing is still sure to be vexing.
With combined figures of 3/89 across both innings at the 'Gabba, Wood may not have had either umpire raising their index fingers at regular intervals, but the elongated Durham paceman's dogged attrition was more than admirable.
Given head coach Chris Silverwood's set desire to rotate his bowling arsenal so far this series, Wood's demotion is currently in step, yet with Chris Woakes underperforming in Queensland last week, perhaps it was only the Brummie's all-rounder role that has seen him spared.
Although much contention has already been made surrounding the decision to drop their quickest bowler, the man at the other end of the speedometer readings - Jack Leach - looks set to earn a reprieve after being belted in the River City.
Leach was unable to tie his end down at any stage during Australia's first innings and headed to the sheds with an eye-watering economy of 7.84 from just 13 overs.
Still, with the Three Lions' camp willing to throw an arm around the left-handed tweaker rather than shunt him for a younger member of the pride in Dom Bess, the Somerset spinner remains included in Silverwood's XII.
England's final XI is set to be announced just prior to the toss prior to 2:30 pm ACDT.
Current XII as reported by cricket.com.au
JoeRoot (c), James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wk), Haseeb Hameed, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.
