Steve Waugh remarked last week that Australia are treading on dangerous ground by not facing any of the top Test teams this year in the build-up to the Ashes. Waugh needn't worry; if Australia are having a less than ideal run-up to the clash then England's preparation is simply ludicrous.

The Australians face New Zealand later this month and then Pakistan later in the year before the battle for the urn commences. It's hardly ideal preparation, with Pakistan having been rolled over earlier in the year.

In New Zealand the Australians face what is sure to be their toughest challenge; while the Kiwis may not have the depth or the consistency of their trans-Tasmin neighbours, Daniel Vettori's men punch above their weight time and time again against the Aussies, with the recently-completed Chappell-Hadlee Trophy a testament to that.

It's that kind of hard-graft, aggressive contest that England lack in their build-up to the Ashes. Before heading to Australia in November, England will complete their current series in Bangladesh before playing the Tigers again, this time on home soil before doing battle with Pakistan - the same Pakistan who are in a state of utter disrepair.

Games against - with the greatest respect - substandard opposition may boost the averages of the batsmen and provide a few easy wickets for the bowlers but it's hardly going to give Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss a realistic idea of who's going to have what it takes when the chips are down in Australia.

While England may have scraped a drawn Test series against South Africa earlier this year, the tour still left some questions unanswered: Jonathan Trott failed to convince after making an impressive debut against Australia, Graham Onions' effort was never in doubt and perhaps with more luck would have been a success but ultimately his resolute batting sticks out more than his bowling.

Equally Ryan Sidebottom proved what we all already knew - he'll try and try until the cows come home but he'll never be a world beater. And while Stuart Broad bowled England to victory in Durban, as one of the senior members of the attack he'll need to produce more than one good spell a series in Australia.

It's certainly the bowling department that is of the most concern, with the England management clearly unsure of who's next in line, with Steve Finn jumping the queue ahead of Liam Plunkett and Ajmal Shahzad. Regardless of which of the trio are given a run the reality remains that nipping out a few Bangladeshi batsman will not prove anything.

England have a number of problems to address if they're to retain the Ashes, none of which will be answered through meaningless encounters with bottom of the barrel teams.

Julia Harris