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Ponting appeals for support from Aussie Fans

Posted by admin on August 26th, 2009

pointimng Ricky Ponting is appealing to Australian cricket fans to stick with his inexperienced Test line-up, forecasting more peaks and troughs until it gathers momentum.

Ponting became only the second Australian captain to lose two Ashes series in England in 119 years following a heavy defeat at The Oval on the weekend.

“We`re all in this together, working through a difficult transition period,” Ponting wrote in a column on Wednesday, after the first of the Australian Test players returned to Sydney. “It`s going to be a roller-coaster ride for a while.”

The 2005 loss was a huge upset, with the Australian team brimming some of the modern greats of the game.

But the 2009 series was expected to be a tighter contest between two moderately talented teams.

Even so, the harshest critics have called for Ponting`s dismissal as national captain in the wake of the 2-1 series loss. Cricket Australia responded by backing the 34-year-old batsman as the leader of a rebuilding team. (more…)

Flower ‘very proud’ of his men

Posted by admin on August 25th, 2009

andy-flower-england England regained the Ashes yesterday with a 197-run success at The Oval giving them a 2-1 series victory.

And Flower told a press conference in London today: “I’m very proud of our guys, they did a brilliant job over the series and came back from a tough position on a number of occasions.

“But we have got a long way to go as a side, we are still number five in the world and we’ve got a long way to go to be where we want to be.”

Flower continued: “We did some good things in the West Indies, bonding, and started this season well.

“I thought we were in with a chance against Australia but I knew we were underdogs. Australia have been the best team in the world for a long time but we knew we had a chance and we’ve taken it. (more…)

Cricket Australia Defends Ponting and Selectors

Posted by admin on August 24th, 2009

james_sutherland_narrowweb Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland has pointed to team inexperience and defended captain Ricky Ponting and the selectors following the Ashes series loss to England.

Sutherland said on Monday CA would conduct a review of the series, but he doesn’t expect any sweeping changes.

He pointed to the relative inexperience of the team and said ebbs and flows in form had to be expected in a rebuilding phase.

Ponting became only the second Australian captain to lead his country to two Ashes losses on England soil, with Australia also dropping from first to fourth on the world Test rankings.

Australian selectors, led by chairman Andrew Hilditch, have been slammed for the decision to leave spinner Nathan Hauritz out of the line-up for the fifth and deciding Test on the dry, spin-friendly Oval pitch.

But Sutherland said any call for Ponting’s sacking would be “completely unfair”.

“Ricky’s had a very, very good series,” he said. (more…)

Australia to 4th Position in ICC Rankings

Posted by admin on August 24th, 2009

Australia-Cricket Following their crushing 197 runs defeat at the hands of a belligerent English side at The Oval which saw them concede the Ashes to the hosts 2-1, Australia have now lost their No 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings.

Infact, Ricky Ponting’s men have slipped to the fourth position, their worst since the ICC introduced its current ranking system. South Africa is now the No 1 Test team in the world, followed by Sri Lanka and India.

The Oval defeat has cost them eight points but despite the series result they remain ahead of their arch rivals England, who are in fifth place. England gained six points but are still 11 points behind Australia.

Australia had been on verge of losing their No 1 ranking towards the end of last year, when they lost a home Test series to South Africa 2-1.

A consolation win in the third Test in Sydney ensured they retained top spot and they also held on thanks to their follow-up series victory in South Africa.

Andrew Strauss is a Hero – British Press

Posted by admin on August 24th, 2009

englandashesverybig2408 England cricket captain Andrew Strauss was hailed as a hero in the British press after leading his team to victory, while questions were raised about Australian skipper Ricky Ponting`s future. England defeated Australia by 197 runs at The Oval on Sunday in the fifth and final Test with more than a day to spare, to regain the Ashes 2-1.

Under headlines reading “THRASHED `EM” and “The Ashes are home,” British newspapers celebrated the victory on their front pages, many with photographs of Strauss holding the coveted urn as his teammates sprayed champagne.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain said the close relationship between Strauss and coach Andy Flower had been crucial to England`s performance throughout the Ashes series.

And he said Strauss, who took over from batsman Kevin Pietersen in January, had gone from strength to strength during the summer against Australia. (more…)

Strauss leads Eng fightback after Cook’s dismissal

Posted by Martin on August 20th, 2009

England Captain Andrew Strauss, who has been in tremendous form throughout the Ashes, again led from the front in the Ashes decider against Australia at The Oval here on Thursday.

Though England suffered early blow in the form of Alister Cook for 10, they regained the momentum with the help of Strauss and one down Ian Bell.

When last report came in, England were 70 for 1 with Strauss and Bell were playing on 34 and 20 respectively.

Peter Siddle was the only successful bowler for the Australia as he picked up the wicket of Cook.

Aussies must wear out Flintoff and play positively: Warne

Posted by Lucy on August 20th, 2009

Australia need to play aggressive and positive cricket and wear out Andrew Flintoff in the first session of the final Test if they have to beat England at the Oval and retain the Ashes urn, reckons Shane Warne.

“With the Ashes up for grabs over the next five days, Australia need to play positive cricket from ball .. if we are to retain the famous little urn,” Warne wrote in his column in a leading daily.

“Australia must remain aggressive and try to win the Test match. If Ricky Ponting and the boys take in a conservative approach and just try to bat for long periods at The Oval it could hurt them and they could pay the ultimate price,” he wrote.

The legendary leg-spinner also advised the Australians to strategise Flintoff`s early fall to improve their chances of winning the series deciding Test match.

“They will also welcome back Andrew Flintoff with open arms, and he will undoubtedly inspire his teammates in his final Test appearance for England.

“Australia have to make sure that Flintoff bowls four or five spells in the first innings. They have to wear him and his knee down, and make him tired,” he added.

It would be fantastic if I was called up for Oval Test

Posted by Jenny on August 12th, 2009

Former England opener Marcus Trescothick has said that it would be fantastic if he was called up to do duty in the final Ashes Test at The Oval.

“It`s something you dream about doing, coming in for one game and potentially trying to win the Ashes. It would just be fantastic,” Trescothick was quoted as saying.

Trescothick, 33, retired from international cricket in March 2008 after struggling with a stress-related illness, and has since reaffirmed his exile.

But he said that if England were to come knocking on his door in their search for stability and quality at the top of the order, he would give it consideration.

Trescothick has amassed 1,330 first-class runs at 78.23 this summer, and is being touted as a possible fill-in on a one-off basis.

Kent captain Rob Key has also been tipped to make a comeback for the must-win Test, and last night he said it would be his dream to win the Ashes.

England captain Andrew Strauss is reported to have made a personal plea for Trescothick to make himself available for the World Twenty20 tournament earlier this summer.

“If I was asked, I don`t know. If they threw questions at me, I would listen. But until they do, I can`t answer. I am just carrying on what I am doing at Somerset. Carrying on playing. Anything else is so hypothetical at the moment,” Trescothick said.

“Playing cricket for England was the great ambition of my life and, until I became ill, I loved everything about it, so not being able to do so now is a source of great regret,” he said.

England selector rules out Trescothick return

England national selector Geoff Miller insists he won’t ask Somerset batsman Marcus Trescothick to come out of international retirement for the deciding match of the Ashes series. (more…)

Ponting left out of Australia Twenty20 squad

Posted by admin on August 11th, 2009

Michael Clarke will take over as captain of Australia’s Twenty20 team to play England after Ricky Ponting was given permission to go home after the last Ashes test.

Ponting will return to Britain to take charge for the bulk of one-day international series but the selectors wanted to give him a rest as they start blooding younger players for next year’s Twenty20 World Cup in West Indies.

“Ricky Ponting is having his workload managed and will return home to Australia after the fifth test at The Oval and will miss the ODI against Scotland, the two Twenty20s and the start of the of the ODI series against England,” Australia’s chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This is the last opportunity we have to give Ricky a break until next year, with the ICC Champions Trophy, ODIs against India and of course a full domestic summer against the West Indies and Pakistan to finish 2009.

“The plan for him to return to Australia before rejoining the team is considered the most appropriate course of action.

“This gives Michael Clarke another opportunity to captain the Australian Twenty20 and ODI side.”

Clarke’s promotion is a further sign that he is being groomed to eventually replace Ponting as test skipper.

Clarke is the current vice-captain of the test side and has been Australia’s best batsmen this year, scoring two hundreds and averaging 89 in the Ashes.

The selectors named separate squads for the Twenty20 matches and one-day internationals as part of their building process for the West Indies next year.

Promising opener Phillip Hughes and paceman Stuart Clark failed to make either side while batsman Mike Hussey and pace bowlers Peter Siddle and Nathan Bracken made the one-day side but not the Twenty20.

“We obviously know what Mike Hussey and Nathan Bracken are capable of in one-day and Twenty20 cricket, but with limited opportunities at international level in this format of the game we wanted to look at different players as we look to improve our Twenty20 performances,” Hilditch said.

“Their omissions do not mean we won’t look to them for the World Twenty20.”

Trescothick and Mark Ramprakash Will be in England Team

Posted by admin on August 11th, 2009

Somerset County Cricket Club CEO Richard Gould believes former England opener Marcus Trescothick can be coaxed to come out of international retirement to participate in the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval next week.

The left-handed opener has not played Test cricket since returning to England before the start of the 2006/07 Ashes tour in Australia.

He then said that he was suffering from a stress-related disorder.

England’s innings and 80 run loss to Australia at Headingley has led to fans and ex-players clamoring for appropriate replacements such as Trescothick and Mark Ramprakash who are in top county form.

Trescothick is the leading batsman in English first-class cricket so far this season with 1,130 runs from 18 matches at an average of over 78 with six centuries.

Surrey batsman Ramprakash has been in top form for the past three years and averages more than 100 in the county championship this season. Kent’s Robert Key is also in the running, as his Jonathan Trott.

Trescothick, 33, has played 76 Tests and scored 5,825 runs at an average of 43.79 with 14 hundreds. Ramprakash, 39, has played 52 Tests and averages 42.40 against the Australians.

Archive for the ‘Ashes’ Category

Ponting appeals for support from Aussie Fans

Flower ‘very proud’ of his men

Cricket Australia Defends Ponting and Selectors

Australia to 4th Position in ICC Rankings

Andrew Strauss is a Hero – British Press

Strauss leads Eng fightback after Cook’s dismissal

Aussies must wear out Flintoff and play positively: Warne

It would be fantastic if I was called up for Oval Test

Ponting left out of Australia Twenty20 squad

Trescothick and Mark Ramprakash Will be in England Team

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