Is it one
step forward and two steps back for Australia’s bowling line-up as we digest the latest news out of
England? Fast bowler Shaun Tait is tipped to get the nod to make his Test
debut at Trent Bridge tomorrow, but topping that is yet another Glenn
McGrath fitness scare.

McGrath had a scan on his right elbow overnight after he reported feeling pain and
discomfort during practice in the nets at Nottingham. He is being assessed over a
36-hour period that will leave any decision until as late as possible
before the Australian XI is named.

So for the
second straight Test we have a McGrath selection quandary and once again our new ball attack has been thrown into
eleventh hour disarray. The
likelihood is that if McGrath misses, both Tait and Michael Kasprowicz will
partner Brett Lee and Shane Warne, although you can only wonder what other
surprises await us in this incredible
series of Australian ups and downs.

Tait
now looks set to play irrespective of McGrath’s status after an impressive display in the nets overnight. There’s an amusing
account in today’s Independent
that tells of some fiery treatment dished out by Tait to the
ever-talkative Justin Langer, coming hard on the heels of Langer
stating that Tait shouldn’t be selected ahead of Kasprowicz:

Nowhere was the tension more apparent than in the Australian nets,
where their aggressive young fast bowler Shaun Tait was involved in a
heated altercation with the tourists’ opening batsman, Justin Langer.
Tait struck
Langer a painful blow with a pacy delivery. It was a shortish ball that
caught the left-hander somewhere in his mid-section and dropped him to
his knees in agony.

The
batsman got to his feet, indicated he did not need treatment, then said
something unprintable to Tait. Tait replied testily: “I’m not trying to
pin you.”