Ryan Harris is a must-pick for Australian selectors in the Ashes opener in Cardiff, which starts on July 8, Shane Warne believes.

Warne, who took 195 of his 708 Test wickets against England, believes a fit Harris should take the place of Josh Hazlewood in the Australian side.

The selectors have a tough call ahead of them, with Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc so impressive in recent months, while left-armer Mitchell Johnson destroyed England in Australia’s 5-0 whitewash in the 2013-14 summer, taking 37 wickets.

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Warne, who was a guest at a golf day at Sandhurst in Melbourne, praised Harris as one of Australia’s greats on Friday.

Josh Hazlewood would be very unlucky to be dropped. Photo: Getty

“Ryan Harris will definitely come in,” Warne said.

“Hazlewood has bowled beautifully and is a perfect new-ball bowler for English conditions but, for me, Ryan Harris is one of the greatest fast bowlers Australia have had.

“(England have) got a few budgies against Mitchell Johnson and (Mitchell) Starc is probably the best fast bowler in the world, so Hazlewood might be unlucky to miss out.”

After heaping praise on Australia’s bowling stocks, Warne turned like one of his leg-breaks and rounded on the England team, most notably skipper Alastair Cook and part-time spinner Moeen Ali.

“It’s an opportunity for Australia to expose Alastair Cook’s deficiencies in his captaincy,” Warne said.

“If Michael Clarke can put the foot on the throat and target Cook early, it will be nice to see that disparity between the captains.

“I’m not sure what Moeen Ali’s role is either. He hasn’t done that well so far. He is a batsman who bowls a bit of part time (offspin).”

Warne also launched a grenade at England for failing to select his good mate Kevin Pietersen, who famously fell out with both selector Andrew Strauss and captain Cook.

In his explosive book, Pietersen wrote of Cook: “Cooky hates conflict. He’s another Mr. Nice Guy – like Ned Flanders from The Simpsons.”

Warne labelled the decision to cast Pietersen aside as disappointing.

“If you look at the England team and put Kevin Pietersen there, it looks a better team straight away,” he said.

“But I can’t see him getting back in unless they get absolutely thrashed in the first two Tests and nobody is getting any runs.

“I hope he is part of the Ashes series. He is one of the most destructive players to play the game during my time.”