Strauss And Cook Partnership, Gives England Great Strength

On the day four of 1st test match of The Ashes Series 2010 where England was looking under pressure in front of big trail but the English batsmen Strauss and Cook keep there nerves calm and both the batsmen played a sensible knock and take england to a strong position at the end of the 4th day.

Andrew Strauss who got out at the score of 110 but his partner Alastair Cook still on the crease with the score of 132 with not out Trott currently playing at the score of 54. The both will start the play of 5th day.

Warne backs Hauritz for Ashes spot

Shane Warne backed Hauritz after endorsing his selection over Tasmania's Xavier Doherty for the first Ashes Test, he needs to prove that he is number one spinner in the country

On Monday an extended 17 man squad was announced and Doherty, who bowls left-arm orthodox, was a surprise inclusion,with National selection panel chairman Andrew Hilditch publicly declaring the national selectors face a big decision in the spin department.

According to Warne so far Hauritz has proved his performance on so many occasions has already done enough to cement his spot for the Brisbane Test, and said: "I think Nathan Hauritz is our number one spinner, he has a very good record in Australia and I'm sure he'll get first chance."

"I had a chat with him just before the Boxing Day Test last year and talked about being positive.

"I said 'mate, you're bowling well, get some right fields, work with Ricky (Ponting) to get the right fields and bowl to get someone out. Ask yourself how am I getting them out and if you ask how am I getting them out that naturally gives you a positive mindset'.

"And if he does that he'll be fine."said Shane warne

He further added,"If he (Hauritz) doesn't do well, a bloke like Doherty is pushing and Steven Smith is pushing, so there are options and that's a good sign for Australian cricket," he said.

"But I think Nathan Hauritz will get first chance, and he deserves it.
"He looks good (Doherty), I've worked with him a bit, not in a while, but whenever I worked with him he looks very good."

England beats Western Australia In The Ashes Tour Match

England started there tour match successfully by winning a warm-up match before the start of official The Ashes series. England captain scored a brilliant century and help England out winning this match.

Andrew Strauss spends a good time on the crease and grab the opportunity.In the first of three matches England will play in the leadup to its first Test against Australia starting at Brisbane on Nov. 25.

England reached its winning target of 243 for the loss of just four wickets, Andrew Strauss hits a 120 runs not out innings in just 131 balls,Kevin Pietersen made 35, Paul Collingwood 26 and Ian Bell 22 not out from 18 balls.

Earlier, Graeme Swann had figures of 4-101 as England dismissed Western Australia for 223 in its second innings after the home side led by 19 runs after the first innings.

spin of Graeme Swann

he spin of Graeme Swann elite could make the difference between England and Australia in the next Ashes series, according to offspinners Australia's most successful test, Ashley Mallett. He believes that the selectors have to throw Steven Smith on the side to help Nathan Hauritz, who took six wickets at 65.00 from his disappointing tour of India.

Hauritz was hardly a threat against the line of India batting box and the last day of the series, he upset a field so defensive that Shane Warne has aired his frustration on Twitter. There were also reports of conflict between Hauritz and captain Ricky Ponting on the line, he should bowl, and the sleeves in Bangalore, he conceded more than a run a ball.

In defense Hauritz, few Australian spinners have flourished in India, where even Warne struggled for 34 test wickets at an average of 43.11. One of the best performers was Mallett, who in five trials in India claimed 28 victims, and said that Swann's presence in England's attack was one factor that goes against the Australia in the ashes.

"The way it is formatted, I reckon England will win the series pretty easily," said Mallett ESPNcricinfo. "They have a true No. 1 pot, a pretty good attack and they have a pretty good balance in theirstick. They have got to be favorites

For Ashes series tickets are selling fast

Tickets are selling fast for this year's Ashes cricket series against England with some Test days already sold out, Cricket Australia said on Friday. Tickets for the opening three days of the third Test at Perth's WACA Ground have sold out while the fifth Sydney Test has sold out on day one and has very few seats remaining for days two and three, CA said. Brisbane's Gabba, Adelaide Oval and Melbourne Cricket Ground have also sold steadily, but tickets still remain for all days, it said. "There was ticket sales hysteria around the last 2006-07 Ashes series here and while we haven't quite reached those levels, ticket sales remain strong," Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said in a statement. "In all, there are very few tickets remaining for the opening one or two days of play across all Ashes Tests and I certainly encourage cricket fans to get in quickly or they may be disappointed. "The opening Test at the Gabba gets underway on November 25 followed by Tests in Adelaide (December 3-7), Perth (December 16-20), Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (January 3-7).England hold the Ashes after winning the last year's series 2-1 at home.

Ashes Sky's lobbying and BBC's reluctance keep Test matches off terrestrial TV

Plans to return the Ashes cricket coverage to terrestrial TV will be scrapped by the Government.
Under Labour proposals, the sporting event would have been given protected status and would have been shown on non pay TV services like the BBC.
But the coalition will announce tomorrow that it is dumping the idea.

The decision also means England football home and away qualifying games will not be protected as planned and neither will The Open golf tournament.
The sports and Olympics minister Hugh Robertson is set to confirm that it will not be adopting the proposals put together by a review panel under the previous Labour administration.
Instead he is expected to say that the recent list of protected events does not need changing.
The new Government is thought to have listened to concerns from organisations such as the England and Wales Cricket Board, who had argued that they would lose millions of pounds in revenue if they could not sell broadcast rights to the highest bidder.
Sky, which recently owns the rights to live Ashes games on its pay TV service, is also thought to have lobbied hard against the changes, while the BBC was reluctant to hand over large swathes of its schedules to cricket.
The decision will no doubt reignite concerns about the perceived closeness between the Government and Rupert Murdoch.
Former Football Association executive director David Davies's review unveiled in November had proposed returning the home matches of the historic cricket series back to free to air TV from 2017.
His recommendations had also removed protected status for the Winter Olympics along with The Epsom Derby and rugby league's Challenge Cup final.
The news will come as a blow to campaigners, such as former Labour John Grogan MP, who have been fighting to get live Ashes cricket back on terrestrial TV.
Mr Grogan last year put down an early day motion backed by 71 MPs calling on the Government to support the recommendations of the Davies committee.
Yesterday he expressed sadness at the decision. He said: 'I am disappointed that they have set aside the conclusions of the report which David Davies worked on with his colleagues for months on end.
'In particular there will be sadness that the Ashes won't be listed and a whole generation of people will grow up not being able to watch their national cricket team live.'
He also expressed fears it would affect the number of children taking up the game.
At the time that the panel's findings were revealed, cricket chief Giles Clarke had warned it could lead to 'a decade of decay' for his sport.
In 1998 home Test match cricket was controversially dumped from the list of 'crown jewel' events which allowed the ECB to negotiate multi-million pound deals with Sky.
In 2008 the ECB signed a four year deal with Sky and Channel Five (who broadcast daily highlights from home Tests) worth a combined £300million and running from 2010 to 2013.
The proposed changes had also included Wales Six Nations matches and all the international football qualifiers for the other home nations - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It is thought the tough economic climate strengthened claims by sports bodies that the moves would damage their revenues.
A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport refused to comment ahead of tomorrow's announcement.

The Ashes: Australians plan for the Ashes

If any of the five Australia debutants can impress against Pakistan in the upcoming Test series, in November a ticket for the Ashes starting in Brisbane could be the reward. But Ahmed Rizvi writes that it is not just the new boys who are in need of nice performances, some of the most established members of the squad have question marks hanging over them, too
Ricky Ponting
The Australia captain has scored more than 11,900 runs and 39 centuries in Test cricket, but is yet to reach the three figure mark at Lord’s, where the first Test starts today. The likes of Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal have their name inscribed on the honour board at the home of cricket, but Ponting has a top score of 42 in six innings at the venue. This could be his last Test at the ground and “Punter” is keen to finally get a century on the haloed turf. “Over the years, I have not got a great record at Lord’s as far as Test cricket is concerned,” he said. “It would be nice to make a hundred there. But if that doesn’t happen, there’s not much I can do about it.”
Mitchell Johnson
Johnson also does not have glad memories of Lord’s.The last time he played a Test at the home of cricket, it was the fourth match of the 2009 Ashes and the left arm pacer was hammered for 200 runs as England won by 115 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Johnson still remembers that game and is keen to exorcise those demons ahead of the battle for the urn Down Under.“That Ashes experience was very frustrating,” he said. “I was going through a few personal things at the time. I was spraying the ball about. But I have learned from it and proved to myself I am a better bowler.”
Michael Hussey

“Mr Cricket” also has bad memories from his last visit to England. Hussey was the least successful of Australia’s batsmen in the 2009 Ashes with two ducks and two other scores of less than 10 runs in eight innings, before he finished off with a well made 121 at The Oval. Against Pakistan, he has had no such problems with a memorable century at Sydney earlier in the year and an incredible innings of 60 from 24 balls in the semi final of the World Twenty20. He will be looking to build on those impressive knocks and hope to carry that form over for when England visit Australia later in the year.
Steven Smith
Since making his international debut in February this year, the leg-spinner has won many admirers for his attitude.His growing reputation will, however, be put to the test when the 21-year-old plays his first Test match, against a team traditionally strong against spinners.The England think-tank will be making notes as he bowls to the likes of the Butts, Akmals and Afridis.Should he succeed against players of their ilk, he will have truly arrived.If things don’t go his way, Smith can find solace in Shane Warne’s disappointing Test debut against India and come back stronger to follow in the footsteps of a peerless legend.
Tim Paine
A talented top-order batsman and wicketkeeper, Tim Paine could be making his Test debut against Pakistan today.He has already got glowing recommendations from his captain. “Expect a big showing from him,” said Ponting.
“He is very, very solid behind the stumps and very technically correct as a batsman.”Paine will look to prove him right after a mixed showing in the recent one-day international series against England when he failed to build on good starts.But if he can improve against Pakistan, a place in the Ashes squad will surely be his.