AUSTRALIA are still no closer to finalising their 12-man team for their opening tour match against Sussex, which starts in Hove on Wednesday.

If vice-captain Michael Clarke knew the make-up of the side, he was giving away very little as the squad prepared to leave their London base to head to Brighton.

The ECB’s decision to allow both sides to play 12 means Australia will be able to take five bowlers into the game.

Mitchell Johnson is considered a certainty but there will be nervous waits for the other six bowlers in the squad.

With Cardiff – venue for the first Ashes Test – likely to be conducive to spin, there is a school of thought off-spinner Nathan Hauritz will be favoured this week.

‘‘I’m not sure what the selectors have decided on for the first practice game but we obviously have the advantage of playing 12 to give somebody else the opportunity,’’ Clarke said.

Although the match has lost its first-class status due to the revised conditions, there will be no room for dithering for the Australians.

Tour games on Australia’s two most recent overseas Test campaigns have seen players play themselves in or out of sides.

In India, Jason Krejza was forced to wait an extra three Tests to make his debut after a horror game against an Indian Board President’s XI where he was crunched for 199 runs at more than six an over.

A similarly expensive performance by Victorian legspinner Bryce McGain against South Africa’s equivalent side in February saw his hopes of playing the first Test of that series evaporate.

Conversely, Western Australian batsman Marcus North booked a berth in the side with two unbeaten half-centuries.