Tim Bresnan took four wickets, while Chris Tremlett and Monty Panesar three apiece as England dismissed Australia A for 301 in its second innings, and scored the requisite nine runs without loss.
Ian Bell's innings of 192 on Friday helped England to 523 in reply to Australia A's first innings of 230 and set up a win that continued the tourists' impressive form ahead of the Ashes.
Earlier Saturday, Australia dropped Nathan Hauritz in preference for two untried spinners as it trimmed its squad to 13 players ahead of the first test starting Nov. 25.
Hauritz is Australia's incumbent spin specialist but has discarded in favor of the 28-year-old finger spinner Xavier Doherty or leg-spinner Steven Smith, with chief selector Andrew Hilditch saying he was “pretty sure” Doherty would make the final eleven.
The decision showed Australia lacked a sure option in the spin department to match that of Graeme Swann, who England will rely upon heavily as it seeks to win an Ashes series in Australia for the first time since 1986-87.
“That was a really hard decision on Nathan, I felt very sorry for him,” chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said.
“He has got a very good record in Australia and he would have done a really good job as well. But we really had to make a decision what we thought was the best type of spinner against England, and with predominantly, if not solely, right-hand middle order batting, we just thought the left-arm orthodox was the best way to go.” Australia showed faith in its established batting lineup despite patchy recent form, That was in part because prospective replacements failed to impress in lead-up games. Callum Ferguson and Usman Khawaja were given the chance in the Australia A match to play their way into the first test team but Khawaja had scores of 13 and 0 and Ferguson 7 and 10.
Meanwhile Mike Hussey, the man under most pressure to retain his place in the batting lineup, recovered from a first-innings duck with a second-innings century for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield match against Victoria.
“I'm sure Ferguson and Usman Khawaja are going to be really good players for Australia, but they didn't quite seize that opportunity,” Hilditch said.
“(Hussey) averages 50 for Australia in test cricket. We wanted him to be in form, which he has now proved that he is.” England's win over Australia A at Hobart's Bellerive Oval continued it's strong buildup to the first test. It beat Western Australia and was in a winning position against South Australia before rain intervened. Most of its top-order batsmen had posted big scores and the bowlers have been sharp.
It's comprehensive win on Saturday put the final piece of its Ashes preparation in place.
Bresnan took 4-86, Panesar 3-63 and Tremlett 3-67 as England's second string attack wrapped up the Australia A innings. Their victory was stalled only by an innings of 111 and 81 by former Australia squad members Cameron White and Phil Hughes. Neither are members of the current squad.
