Jul
12
Collingwood sure of salvaging draw
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Paul Collingwood has backed England to head out of Wales with the Ashes series level despite Australian dominance at Cardiff.
England enter an extended final day of 98 overs on Sunday in Cardiff with eight wickets intact and intent on survival - they are still 219 runs short of making the tourists bat again.
Hundreds from Marcus North and Brad Haddin made it four centurions in the innings - a record for Australia against England - and led their team to 674 for six declared, their highest Ashes total for 75 years.
There was just enough time to snare two contrasting lbw decisions - Alastair Cook plumb in front and Ravi Bopara a victim of a poor decision - before the forecast rain blew in and terminated play at tea.
“We have three sessions to bat and you have to take responsibility as an individual to see those through and not leave it to anybody else,” Collingwood said.
“In the first innings we all got starts and didn’t go on and now it is all about putting your hand up and being the man to see the three sessions out.
“The Ashes series is a long series but tomorrow (Sunday) is a very important day for us.
“It’s the first Test match and we want to go into the next Test match level still so it’s important as a batting side to stand up and to bat through a difficult situation and see the side home, so we can go into the next match level.
“The pitch is very slow and people will have their own approach and their own methods and work out what shots are going to be risky on that pitch.
“We have to play well but we believe we have the players in the shed to see the game through.”
It is 1934 since England last defeated Australia at Lord’s, the venue of the second Test, so retaining parity has extra significance.
A worrying lack of penetration with the ball, however, means they may consider personnel changes for next week’s contest.
While England scalped just half-a-dozen victims between them in 181 overs, outcast fast bowler Steve Harmison extended his recent good form with five for 60 against Yorkshire in a County Championship match at Headingley.
But Durham team-mate Collingwood said: “It’s difficult to pick up wickets when the ball does nothing for the seamers.
“I know you have to use other methods but when the pitch is so slow it’s very difficult.
“I thought there were times when we could have built a bit more pressure on the Australian batsmen, but they always seemed to be able to get through them.
“He (Harmison) is going to be in the mixer, just like all the bowlers.
“But this attack has done well for us in the last few months and I’m sure we’ll be sticking with that.”
Australian left-hander North is another man who earned recognition through displays in county cricket, having played for Lancashire, Derbyshire, Durham, Gloucestershire and Hampshire.
“Without a doubt, having the experience of county cricket has made sure that coming over here to play Test cricket, there has been no surprises in conditions, no surprises in the weather and no surprises in the facilities of preparing,” North said.
“That has helped for me. I have played at Cardiff a few times and I was aware of possible conditions I could be facing.”
This was 29-year-old North’s second hundred in three Tests and, like that of Haddin, was made in his first Ashes innings.
Of the transition, he added: “It certainly hasn’t felt easy. Test cricket has an intensity which is like no other.
“But I am only young at this level in respect of experience and I am grateful for each opportunity I get to play for Australia. Each time I walk out to bat I will try to make the most of it.
“We saw an opportunity to keep England out there and to field for 180 overs is pretty hard work for them.
“The position at the moment means there is probably only one winner, so hopefully the weather stays away and we have got a full day’s play (on Sunday).
“Hopefully now we have ground them down in the field they are going to have some heavy legs when they come out and bat.”
Wicketkeeper Haddin dominated the 200-run stand for the sixth wicket with three sixes and 11 fours in an innings of 121, which ended when he holed out off Collingwood’s medium pace.
“He did nothing silly, took time to get himself in and the situation of the game allowed him to be free-spirited,” said North.
“It is great for him to be able to express himself in that kind of scenario.”
Jul
8
McGrath predicts Aussie whitewash
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Former Australia pacer Glenn McGrath predicted a whitewash for Ricky Ponting’s men in the Ashes series.
McGrath was part of the team that hammered England 5-0 in the last Ashes series in 2006-07.
The speedster, arguably Australia’s most successful pacer, said having watched Australia’s Test series win in South Africa, he was convinced the team was capable of wining all the five matches of the series and retain the urn.
“My prediction is it will be 5-0 to Australia. I’ve got total confidence in the boys, especially watching the way they played in South Africa in the last Test series,” McGrath said.
McGrath, who have 563 Test wickets to his name, thinks victory in South Africa has given the Australian team immense confidence and that experience may prove crucial in Ashes.
“I thought that would have given them lot of confidence.
They showed what they can do and the huge potential that they’ve got.
“If they can do the same here and maybe even improve in one or two areas they will do really well and probably win 5-0,” McGrath was quoted as saying in ‘The Australian’.
Jun
18
Warne questions Bopara credentials
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Shane Warne doubts England batsman Ravi Bopara has what it takes to make an impact in this summer’s Ashes series.
Warne, who took more than 700 Test wickets in a glittering career, has played down Bopara’s impressive start to international cricket and has questioned his temperament.
Bopara scored three consecutive centuries against West Indies earlier this summer, but Warne said in the Daily Mirror: “Bopara is a good first-class cricketer, but he is not an international cricketer.
“I think he’s got all the talent in the world, but I just don’t think he’s got the temperament. He can be put off his game too easily and he’s too worried about how he looks.
“Let’s hope England aren’t relying on Bopara (for the Ashes) because they could be in trouble.”
Warne added: “Paul Collingwood can be good, but he has to be batting with someone like Kevin Pietersen to bring the best out of him.
“For England to succeed they will have to bat around Pietersen and the captain (Andrew Strauss).”
May
24
England pace bowler James Anderson has warned Australia that he is only just beginning to fulfil his potential ahead of the Ashes series later this year. 
Anderson has taken 22 first-class wickets already this season in just three matches, including nine in a man-of-the-match display in the second Test victory over the West Indies last week.
That impressive form has seen the Lancashire star tipped by experts, including former England coach Duncan Fletcher, as the man capable of helping England regain the Ashes when the Test series starts in July.
The 26-year-old has a chance to fine-tune his game for the titanic clashes with Australia when the second match of the one-day series against the West Indies takes place at Bristol on Sunday.
“I don’t think anyone has seen the best of Jimmy Anderson yet,” Anderson said.
“I think I’ve still got improving to do - and I hope I can do that, whether it’s through the Ashes series or beyond that.
“I hope I’ll be in similar form. It’s not that long away, and if I can have a good series here and the Twenty20 World Cup, then it’s time to start thinking about the Ashes.”
Anderson’s status as England’s attacking spearhead represents quite a contrast to earlier this year when he was left out of the first Test against the West Indies in the Caribbean.
England derailed the Australians in 2005 by creating detailed plans tailored to each individual batsman and Anderson will be integral to their effort this time with his ability to swing the ball whether new or old.
“I’ve got my own expectations,” Anderson said. “I know what I can achieve in the Ashes; I know how big a part I can play and how important I am to this group of lads here; I’ll just be hoping to meet my expectations.
“It’s going to be crucial that we can get some plans nailed down early on and not wait for them to come at us. We’ve got to try to strike the first blow.
“All of us bowlers have input, everyone chirps up in meetings.
“But everyone is different in their bowling styles - so what might work for me might not work for Stuart Broad.
“We all have to have individual plans as well as having a team plan.
“My skills have always been there - I have always been able to swing it both ways and reverse-swing it both ways.
“It has been more to do with consistency in my line and length which has improved.
“So in the past when it was swinging I wasted quite a few balls whereas now I feel I am asking questions with pretty much every ball I bowl.”
May
20
“We went to South Africa with a less experienced team and we’ve got an extra three Test matches into some of these guys now,” he said.
“You don’t face many tougher tasks than playing South Africa over there and our guys came through particularly well so that excites me about what we’ve got coming up on this tour.
“We’ve got a great balance of youth and experience, so hopefully when the big moments come around it will be all of us who stick up our hands and get the job done.”
Selectors went for three all-rounders — Shane Watson, Andrew McDonald and Marcus North — but there was no room for the 34-year-old Symonds.
Symonds has had a chequered 26-Test career and has not played a Test since Boxing Day last year against South Africa in Melbourne following a season of injury, poor form and off-field personal problems.
Chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, said the selection of injury-prone Watson was subject to his recovery from a groin injury.
“I suppose Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson were competing for the same spot,” he said.
“Shane was in extremely good form before his minor injury and he also gives us quality pace bowling and he’s capable of batting anywhere in the top six, so we think he’s a very good selection for the Ashes tour.”
Watson said he expected to be bowling next week after recovering from his latest setback and to be fit by the time the team arrives in England.
Opening batsman Phillip Hughes is the youngster of the tourists at 20, and comes into the Ashes series on the back of scoring four centuries during a six-week English county guest stint with Middlesex.
Ponting’s touring party will have a six-strong pace attack, headed by 310-Test wicket-taker Brett Lee and left-armer Mitchell Johnson.
They will be backed up by Stuart Clark, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Watson, while off spinner Nathan Hauritz was handed the specialist spinner’s role, supported by North and left-armer Michael Clarke.
Graham Manou was named as the extra player as back-up wicketkeeper to Brad Haddin.
In a squad notable for the absence of unpredictable all-rounder Andrew Symonds, eight have played fewer than 10 Tests, but they have been encouraged by their 2-1 series win earlier this year over the world’s second-rated side South Africa.
“England have done everything very well against the West Indies, but I can guarantee that they’ll be facing a stiffer opposition when we arrive,” Ponting said.
“England will be a very stiff and tough opposition, they always are when we play against them.
“With 2005 we got off to a great start and then things just slipped away from us. A lot of us have been there, learnt from our mistakes and we’re keen to rectify that.
“There’s a void in my cricketing career that hasn’t been achieved yet and that’s being captain of a winning Ashes series in England. That’s something very dear to my heart.”
Ponting believes the experience of beating the Proteas will work in Australia’s favour when the Ashes gets underway in Cardiff on July 8.
Skipper Ricky Ponting says Australia have learned the lessons of their titanic 2005 series loss and promises England a torrid Ashes battle with his rebuilt team.
The Australians hold the famous urn after regaining the Ashes 5-0 in the 2006-07 series, but much has changed with the retirements of modern-day greats Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer.
Selectors on Wednesday unveiled a transitional 16-man squad with a total match experience of just 418 Tests, compared with the 796 of the 2005 squad and the 666 of the party that toured in 2001.
Only Ponting, vice-captain Michael Clarke, Simon Katich and Brett Lee remain from the last series in England four years ago.
But 131-Test veteran Ponting warned England, fresh from trouncing the West Indies 2-0, that his Aussies will pose a much sterner threat in the five-Test July-August series.
May
18
New faces set for Ashes call
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England will know which players they will be facing in the forthcoming Ashes series when Australia name their squad on Tuesday.
Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch will take centre stage at the Sydney Cricket Ground at 11am local time (2am BST) to name the 15 or 16-strong squad that will defend the famous urn and look to avenge the 2005 defeat on English soil.With the likes of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist all having retired since the teams last met, it is sure to be a different, and much less experienced, side than the one that inflicted 2006’s humbling 5-0 whitewash. But there will, of course, be some familiar faces.
Hughes is expected to take the mantle
Captain Ricky Ponting is sure to be at the tiller, while opener Simon Katich, vice-captain Michael Clarke and returning paceman Brett Lee were all on duty in 2005.
Since then the likes of Mike Hussey, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark have become established members of the team and all can expect to get the nod on Tuesday.
County cricket fans will be able to attest to the mercurial talents of Katich’s likely opening partner Phillip Hughes, a potentially devastating hitter who scored back-to-back centuries against South Africa in his second Test at Durban.
Hughes is expected to take the mantle of the equally destructive Hayden but, at only 20, and with just three caps to his name, the New South Wales player is still a callow pick for such a series.
His transition has been helped by an early-season stint at Middlesex - a cameo that showed he had little trouble adapting to English conditions as he gorged on runs.
There are, though, some selection issues that are not as clear.
Symonds is perhaps most feared by England
A handful of all-rounders have been used in the last 18 months and Andrew Symonds, Marcus North, Shane Watson and Andrew McDonald are likely to be fighting for a maximum of two places.
Symonds is perhaps the player most feared by England - he has enjoyed great success in the county game and has the requisite big-game mentality that can change high-pressure games.
But the Birmingham-born player also represents the most controversial choice.
He has suffered from frequent disciplinary problems in recent years and many thought his Australia career was at an end until he was handed an olive branch by Cricket Australia earlier this year.
Having welcomed him back into the fold, it would now be a surprise were he not selected for one last tour of the land of his birth.
McDonald has yet to nail down his place and may struggle, while North’s ability to offer a second spin option should see him given the green light ahead of Watson.
The identity of the first-choice slow bowler is also something of a vexed question, as the Baggy Greens continue their search for an adequate replacement for the inspirational Warne.
Veteran leg-spinner Bryce McGain almost certainly bowled himself out of contention on a chastening, wicketless debut against the Proteas, while Jason Krejza could prove too inconsistent.
That would leave Nathan Hauritz, centrally contracted last week, as the man in pole position.
Possible Australia squad: R Ponting (captain), P Hughes, S Katich, M Hussey, M Clarke, B Hodge, A Symonds, M North, B Haddin, G Manou, M Johnson, B Lee, P Siddle, S Clark, B Hilfenhaus, N Hauritz.
May
13
Ricky Ponting believes his Australia side are likely to be facing both Michael Vaughan and Steve Harmison in the upcoming Ashes series against England. 
Vaughan, who captained England to Ashes glory in 2005, and pace bowler Harmison, who was one of the stars of that series, are currently out of an England squad which won the first of a two-Test series against the West Indies in convincing fashion last week.
But Ponting expects a greater emphasis on experience from the England selectors when they mull their options for the task of reclaiming the Ashes from a new-look Australian touring party.
“I’ve just got a bit of a feeling that they might want to get Vaughan back into the set-up and they might pick Harmison for when we get there,” Ponting told Sky Sports News on Wednesday.
“So I think their side might actually shape up closer to the side of 2005 or 2007 than we actually think it might.”
Ponting has however been impressed with some of England’s emerging players like Ravi Bopara and spinner Graeme Swann.
Ponting added: “Bopara made a really good hundred against the West Indies last week, they’ve got Swann instead of (Monty) Panesar, Stuart Broad’s in there now, otherwise their batting is fairly similar with Pietersen, Collingwood, Strauss, Cook, those guys.
“We’ve played a lot against those guys over the years, so it’s not too dissimilar, both sides have probably got three or four changes from last time we met.”
Durham seamer Grahm Onions took five for 38 in the first innings of England’s 10-wicket win at Lord’s but Ponting is not convinced he will keep his place.
“He’s a lively bowler, he bowls 90mph-plus so he’s up there 145 (kph) sort of pace, He’s lively.
“He did well in that game but I’m not sure when they get the (Ryan) Sidebottoms and all those guys back if he’ll still be in their side, but we’ll wait and see.”
The first match in the five-Test Ashes series will be played at Cardiff from July 8.
Nov
11
Flintoff: I was made a scapegoat
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Andrew Flintoff accused his teammates of making him a scapegoat for the disastrous Ashes whitewash.
Calling the aftermath of the 0-5 loss against the Australians Down Under as the lowest point of his career, Flintoff said he often felt isolated in the eye of growing criticism while his teammates were busy fending for themselves.
“When we were getting hammered out there, it was a lonely one as well. Blame was flying in all directions and a lot was assigned to me. What happened then was that self-preservation kicked in among some of the players. It was human nature, they started looking after themselves and retreated into their own groups,” said Flintoff.
“In hindsight, the captaincy was one job too many for me. I felt isolated. It was the lowest point of my career and, having been through it,” said the 29-year-old all-rounder who returned to England side for a seven-ODI and two-Test tour of India.
And he pledged support to current skipper Kevin Pietersen so that he does not go through the same trauma that he went through in Australia.
“I would never let a captain I played for go through that experience. Kevin has started brilliantly and the team have responded. But he has to be ready if things start to go wrong,” Flintoff was quoted as saying in the ‘Mail on Sunday’.
“Being captain of England is a great job, especially when you are winning. But when you are struggling, it is tough and you can’t just do it from 9am to 7pm. It is with you all the time and it plays on you. I hope it never comes to it, but if things start to go wrong I’m going to make sure KP doesn’t stand alone.”
The burly all-rounder said was Pietersen’s decision to let him bat at number six helped him regain his confidence after being out for over a year from international cricket due to an ankle injury. “When he took over the England captaincy, Kevin said he wanted five bowlers for the last Test (against South Africa) and asked me if I would bat at six and I was more than happy with that and I said I wanted to bat as high as possible in the one-dayers.
“Maybe his attitude and certainty helped give me confidence. Maybe it was coincidence, but by the end of the summer I was taking guard, looking up and all I could see were gaps.” Asked about his target, Flintoff said, “Before my latest operation, I said to myself that if I didn’t feel that I could play better than I had done before I would have quit there and then. But I feel I can do much more than I have done up to now.
“I’m fit. There are no problems at all with the ankle. I’m more comfortable with my game and in myself and in a much better position to perform. And there is a massive amount to strive for now.”
Oct
28
Waugh: India series rival Ashes
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Former Australia captain Steve Waugh believes the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India is now on a par with the Ashes.
Waugh is in no doubt that the rivalry between Australia and India has the potential to eventually become the biggest on the international stage.”It’s really at its height now because of the two premier sides in world Test match cricket coming together,” Waugh said ahead of the third Test in Delhi, which begins on Wednesday.
“The rivalry’s been built up, we have had some great series, the last couple have been fantastic and it gets bigger and bigger every year so it almost rivals the Ashes series and it probably is right now.
“And it will get bigger because India really is the focal point of world cricket right now.”
Waugh said that he has found the latest instalment of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy enjoyable so far coming off the back of the memorable series in Australia last summer between the two countries.
“Australia did well in the first Test, probably dominated that, obviously India played very well in the second Test at Mohali,” added Waugh.
“Australia have got a chance, there’s no doubt about it. India will feel confident coming into this Delhi Test match but Australia also know that if they play well they’re a chance of winning so it’s all set for a good last two Tests.”
Waugh’s optimism for the visitors’ chances of victory in the third Test is based in part on what he has seen from the players at training after joining a session on Tuesday.
“It’s been a really impressive session actually, really good intensity,” said Waugh who hit 32 centuries in 168 Tests.
“The fielding was good, which is always a good sign for a team leading into a Test match, so I think they’re in pretty good shape.”
India lead the four Test series 1-0 after winning the second Test in Mohali by 320 runs following the drawn first Test in Bangalore.
Oct
10
England’s on song, says Collingwood
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Paul Collingwood has dismissed Shane Warne’s prediction of another Ashes whitewash in 2009 as just a normal verbal duel.
The former England skipper said that England were on song and they could beat anyone.
“It’s the normal ‘verbals’ that seem to go on nowadays. We know where we need to be as a team. We believe we’re certainly pulling in the right direction,” he said.
“If we can get everybody fit and raring to go and playing well, when the Ashes come around we’re going to be a very, very hard team to beat. When we’re on song we can beat anybody,” he told .
Collingwood had helped England win back the Ashes in 2005 but had to face an embarrassing 5-0 defeat Down Under in the subsequent 2006-07 series.
England, who beat South Africa in the second and final Test and then thrashed them in the one-day series as well, will tour India and the West Indies with a lot of optimism.
“It’s just getting that consistency. It was a great end to the season; it gave everybody a buzz,” he said.
“It was a big lift there and if you’ve got the likes of Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff fit and the way they are, we’re going to be a very hard team to beat.”