 Geoff Arnold and Chris Old were also dropped as the now fit Mike Hendrick and the spinner Derek Underwood returned to the team, Old somewhat unfairly as he had played well at Perth.This gave England only two fast bowlers, Bob Willis and Arnold, the medium pace and off-cutters of Tony Greig and the spin of Fred Titmus and Underwood.The Melbourne Cricket Ground was slower than it had ever been, with low bounce that would limit the effectiveness of the Australian fast bowling attack.