(L-R) Peter Siddle, Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus at the SCG in 2011. Source: News Limited
JUST six months ago it was the area where Australia had the most depth, but all of Australia's pace bowling stocks seem paper thin.
A spate of injuries to young guns James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Jackson Bird and Pat Cummins has opened the door for players whose careers looked dead and buried not long ago.
Heading that list is Mitchell Johnson, who is more familiar than most with the perils of bowling under cricket's biggest spotlight. But his form in the recent one-dayers in England and India might just convince selectors that he's worth one final, hopeful shot against the old enemy.
In the fourth installment of our five-part Aussie Ashes Audit, we look at the pace bowlers pushing for Test selection this summer.
The sure things: Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle
Australia will rely heavily on their lion-hearted pace duo to do much of the heavy lifting this summer.
Ryan Harris was a revelation in England, finally stringing together a run of matches without injury and justifying the selectors' faith in him in emphatic fashion.
The burly Queenslander was Australia's top wicket-taker in the series, picking up 24 scalps - just two behind overall leader Graeme Swann - at an average of less than 20.
The English batsmen struggled against Harris's combination of aggression and consistency, and the bad news for them is he's only likely to be better on his home turf.
Siddle started the series brilliantly, just as he did the previous Ashes battle in 2010-11, but the Victorian faded in the second half of the series.
17 wickets in an Ashes series is still nothing to sneeze at, but if he starts this series poorly, his position could come under threat when Australia's injured brigade eventually return.
That being said, Siddle is Michael Clarke's Mr Reliable, and he'll be feeling refreshed after a well-earned break was followed by some solid hit-outs in domestic cricket.
The contenders: Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood, James Faulkner
The Barmy Army will be licking its lips at the prospect of an Ashes recall for Mitchell Johnson, but that probably won't deter Australia's selectors from handing him a lifeline.
The left-armer has been banging down the door with some very impressive performances in the one-day arena, bowling with renewed pace, bounce and accuracy, assets that seemed to have all but disappeared from his game barely 12 months ago.
But with many people arguing that you can't read too much into George Bailey's performances in India given the differences in conditions, formats and opposition, does that notion also apply to Johnson?
Does he need to prove he's back to his best with the red ball, or are his performances in England and India enough?
Even if you are basing it on his recent showings, Johnson has been far from flawless in India - he may be Australia's leading wicket-taker, but he was belted for 72 runs off his 10 overs in the sixth one-dayer, and 68 off nine overs in the second ODI.
Josh Hazlewood's name has been thrown up as a future Test stars for many years, but this summer he has a chance to prove he's worthy of the hype.
Having his first solid run without injury has returned handsome dividends, with the NSW quick earning a call-up for Australia's limited-overs matches in England.
The 22-year-old returned home and was a star for the Blues in the Ryobi Cup, ending the tournament as the third-highest wicket-taker after picking up 12 scalps.
Fellow young-gun James Faulkner got his first taste of Test cricket at the Oval, and showed he was quite comfortable at that level with a consistent performance that yielded match figures of 6-98.
Although he's viewed as an all-rounder - Faulkner batted at No.7 in his only Test - the Tasmanian has more of a chance of being picked primarily for his bowling, especially given Shane Watson has returned to full fitness.
The bolters: Ben Hilfenhaus, Ben Cutting, Nathan Coulter-Nile
It seems a bit harsh to be labelling Ben Hilfenhaus a bolter, given he was a fixed member of the Test side at this exact stage last summer.
But as most of Australia's fast bowling cartel are now aware, the fortunes of a Test cricketer are as fragile as their backs, knees and ankles.
Hilfenhaus hasn't been sighted in the Test arena since the first clash against Sri Lanka in December, when he was omitted due to injury, although his form had by that stage betrayed him as well.
Not even a glut of wickets when he made his return to first-class cricket late in the Sheffield Shield season could earn him a ticket on the plane to England, and he now seems a fair distance from earning a Test re-call.
Queenslander Ben Cutting is one of the many hard-luck stories in Australian cricket at the moment.
He was on the cusp of a potential Test debut two seasons ago, named in Australia's squad before selectors eventually opted for Mitchell Starc. That pair's careers went on to take vastly different directions, with Starc becoming a semi-regular fixture in the baggy green while Cutting struggled with injury on the domestic scene.
But the 26-year-old returned from that latest setback with renewed vigour, and if his latest performances in the Ryobi Cup are anything to go by, he could justifyably be labelled as one of Australia's top all-rounders.
He took 10 wickets and scored 195 runs for the tournament, and a few more performances like that in Shield cricket could see him return to the Test fold.
Another who has starred in the shorter format of the game with both ball and bat is Nathan Coulter-Nile.
He shot to national prominence via a couple of sensational performances with the bat for Perth Scorchers, and after some handy bowling efforts for Western Australia, it wasn't long before he was being touted as a Test bolter by none other than Shane Warne.
Coulter-Nile was fast-tracked into Australia's squad for the recent Champions Trophy tournament, but after some solid performances in that series, he hasn't featured in the recent one-dayers in India.
The injury ward: James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins
This list is far too long for anyone in Australian cricket's liking. Here are the scheduled return dates for James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Jackson Bird and Pat Cummins:
Pattinson - third or fourth Ashes Test (mid-late December)
Bird - early December
Cummins - start of Big Bash League season (late December)
Starc - unconfirmed, likely to miss entire Ashes series
31 Oct, 2013
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Source: http://www.news.com.au/national/harris-siddle-johnson-hazlewood-faulkner-contenders-to-be-australias-pacemen-in-the-ashes/story-e6frfkp9-1226750595132?from=public_rss
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