England attack to miss Australia A

England's bowling attack of Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Steven Finn will miss the final tour match against Australia A this week in order to acclimatise in Brisbane ahead of the first Test (Australia 11/10, England 15/8, Draw 11/4 Test Match) at the Gabba.

Paceman Broad made the revelation on Monday as the squad prepared to move on to Hobart from Adelaide following the weekend's drawn game against South Australia.

And he confirmed that the quartet of bowlers would be joined on the plane to Queensland by coach David Saker to enjoy a few more days of preparation going into the Brisbane Test which starts on November 25.

Broad (6/1 Ashes Top Series Bowler) said: "A few of us are heading up to Brisbane later this week to get some preparation time.

"Obviously, conditions can be quite different up in Brisbane - so we're getting a bit of a head start and three or four days extra up there.

"We've had two fantastic games as a bowling group together. Now it's all about preparation for that first Test match - and I see going up to Brisbane early as a great opportunity to get used to conditions."

He added: "We're going to have times where we're going to be spending a lot of time out in the sun - and we need to make sure our bodies are 100% ready for that.

"We'll see the start of the Hobart game and then go up and get the preparations right, with the Performance Squad who are already in Brisbane."

It means England coach Andy Flower will give Chris Tremlett, Monty Panesar, Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad a chance to stake their claim for the first Test in the match against Australia A this week.