Ryan Harris has the vital asset of experience needed in first Test

STRIKE weapon Ryan Harris will count on his swing ability and excellent Test record being enough to earn him a start at Trent Bridge.

Harris calls on experience

CRICKET: Strike weapon Ryan Harris will count on his swing ability and excellent Test record being enough to earn him a start in the first Test at Trent Bridge, beginning on Wednesday.

Harris struggled to find another gear on a lifeless New Road wicket in Australia's final tune-up against Worcestershire.

Injuries have curtailed Harris's Test career to just 12 matches, but in that time he's taken 47 wickets at 23.63.

New coach Darren Lehmann has spoken of the need for Australia to play aggressive cricket if it is to win back the urn.

England would be wary of Harris and selecting him would make a strong statement that Australia is out to win the first Test at all costs. Even if that means the 33-year-old being unable to back up for Lord's.

Former Test fast bowler Damien Fleming said tour match form would have to count for something, but that if fit, Harris would do the job.

"Ryan is a real bonus. As long as he's fit, I reckon he's ready to go," Fleming said. "If Ryan Harris was younger and we knew he could play five Tests . . . he would probably be the spearhead. But he came off nothing this season to play Shield games and then the Shield final. We saw then (in taking seven wickets) he's just a class act. He bowls full, he swings the ball. He's aggressive.

"He's strong and a naturally very aerobically fit bowler. Also he doesn't need as much cricket as the younger guys because he knows his game very well."

Jackson Bird took four first-innings wickets in Worcester to put his hand up for selection.

Captain Michael Clarke says he wants bowlers who complement each other.

If the ultra-aggressive James Pattinson and left-arm weapon Mitchell Starc are certainties, then Australia will need to assess the conditions and decide who brings more to the table out of Peter Siddle, Harris and Bird.

If two-Test player Bird is picked for his control and nagging consistency, that would mean there's just 21 matches worth of experience between him, Pattinson and Starc.

Australia's young bucks will back themselves with the swinging Dukes cricket balls but Fleming warned there was a danger in getting too excited.

"You are attacking but you've got to manage your expectations sometimes when it's moving around everywhere," he said.

"You need to assess the conditions and the match situation continually and then you implement your plan and you stick with it."

AAP