ECB announce Ashes venues

Durham have been handed an Ashes Test for the first time, after the England and Wales Cricket Board announced venues for the 2013 (England 4/7, Australia 11/4, Draw 9/2 – bet365 Series Betting) and 2015 series’.

Nine venues submitted aplications to host five-day games against Australia, with seven receiving the good news from the ECB.

In 2013, Lord’s, Trent Bridge, Old Trafford, the Riverside and The Oval will host the five Tests, while Lord’s, Trent Bridge, Cardiff, Edgbaston and The Oval have been selected for matches in 2015.

Headingley (Yorkshire 7/2 County Championship Div 2 Outright) and the Rose Bowl are the two Test venues to miss out entirely, although both grounds will host one-day internationals against Australia.

Meanwhile, Bristol has not been awarded any international match against Australia, but will host New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka in ODIs.

Major match group chairman Lord Bill Morris said: “There will now be a period of certainty for these venues, although we appreciate that some venues may be disappointed not to have obtained a better package of matches.”

Strauss eyes England progress

England (4/7 Ashes 2013 outright with bet365) skipper Andrew Strauss has insisted his side must not rest on their laurels after they completed their 4-0 whitewash against India at The Oval on Monday.

The captain and his players have booked their place at the top of the world Test rankings thanks to some impressive performances against a lacklustre India outfit, who struggled to cope with England’s bowling attack.

Now the Test side have reached top spot, Strauss believes the job has only just begun, as England (4/5 ODI Series against India outright with bet365) look to dominate the longer form of the game for many years to come.

The opening batsman has insisted their will be no complacency creeping into the camp whilst he is at the helm alongside head coach Andy Flower.

He said: “The greatest pitfall is that feeling that you’ve done it all, therefore you’re not willing to put in the hard work.

“I’d be very disappointed if we fell into that trap, It’s not what we’re about as a unit. If there are any signs of it it’s important to nip it in the bud.”

No pain in Sydney rain for England

Tim Bresnan felt England had made the most of the decision by Australia captain Michael Clarke to bat first in the fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney (Australia 11/4, draw 6/4, England 11/8 – Stan James Test match revised).

The tourists ended a rain-interrupted day one on 134-4 and Bresnan, who removed Clarke after he made just four in his first Test as Australia’s captain, said England were confident the wicket would improve.

“It’s a good day for us – we were looking to have a bowl,” he said.

“We can only see the pitch getting better from now. It needs a lot of sun to break up and looking at the forecast I don’t think it’s going to get it.”

Shane Watson (45), Phillip Hughes (31) and debutant Usman Khawaja (37) joined Clarke back in the pavilion on a modest day at the crease for the hosts (evens Mike Hussey – Next Man Out).

The Aussies must force a win at the SCG to prevent England, who have already retained the urn for the first time in 24 years, from claiming the series outright.

Aussies could risk Beer in Sydney

Australia are being tipped to hand Michael Beer a Test debut against England this week, but it would be a major gamble as the spinner has never played at the SCG (Aus 13/5, Draw 15/8, Eng 11/8 – bet365 Match Betting).

With Sydney known as a turning pitch as the Test progresses, the home side could look to a new face to help them level the series.

The Aussies trail 2-1 going into the final Test and having already lost their skipper through injury, the selectors could be tempted to make further changes.

With other spin options Xavier Doherty and Steven Smith struggling for wickets during the series, Australia could be tempted into selecting Beer (5/1 Top Aus Bowler – 1st Innings) for the fifth Test.

Not only would it be the 26-year-old’s first Test match, but it would also his first time of bowling on the Sydney pitch.

Michael Hussey (7/2 Top Aus Batsman – 1st Innings) feels Beer has both the talent and temperament to cope at the highest level and has no doubt that the Western Australian can deal with the pressure of the Ashes.

Hussey said: “He handles pressure situations very well which obviously you’re going to come up against in Test match cricket all the time, so I think having all those attributes mixed in together will help him have success at the highest level.”

Ponting waiting on finger reaction

Ricky Ponting will be hoping for a nice present on Christmas Day after waiting to see if he suffers any reaction to his finger injury following a net session (Fourth Ashes Test – Australia 6/4 – To Win).

The Australia captain’s involvement in the Ashes Boxing Day Test is in the balance after he suffered a broken finger during the win in Perth in the Third Test which levelled the series at 1-1.

Ponting did not face serious pace in the session but he is “pretty confident”, according to vice-captain Michael Clarke (Ponting 7/2 – Top Australia First Inningn Batsman).

“We are all very hopeful and pretty confident that unless they cut his finger off, it is going to be really hard to leave ‘Punter’ out,” Clarke added.

“I think he is going to have to wait until tomorrow to see how it pulls up after having a bat today, but he is pretty happy with how things went.”

For England, Jonathan Trott says he expects team-mate James Anderson to feature in Melbourne after he bowled in the nets for an hour on Friday following a side strain (Fourth Ashes Test – England 2/1 – To Win).

Ponting should be fit for MCG Test

Australia captain Ricky Ponting has confirmed he has a broken finger, but should be available for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG (Australia 6/4 with bet365 to win the fourth Test).

Ponting says he expects to be fit and has been named in an unchanged Australia squad for the fourth Test.

Uncapped spinner Michael Beer, who was named in the squad for the Perth Test, has been retained as a squad member for Melbourne, with Cricket Australia confirming they will add to the 12 if required.

Ponting suffered the injury to the little finger on his left hand late on day three of the third Test in Perth (Ponting 7/2 with bet365 to be Australia’s top fourth Test batsman).

Jonathan Trott edged to him at second slip, and the ball bounced off Ponting’s hand into the air, where wicketkeeper Brad Haddin completed the dismissal.

Ponting left the field soon afterwards and was absent as Australia completed victory on day four at the WACA.

There had been fears he could miss the remainder of the series after undergoing scans (Ponting 10/1 with bet365 to be fourth Test man of the match).

But Ponting said after the 267-run victory that levelled the series at 1-1: “I was a bit sore today. I can’t afford to take a knock on it at this stage.

“It needs time to heal. I think I’m a good chance to play in Melbourne.

“I haven’t been game to grab a bat yet. I’ll wait a couple of days before I do that.

“As far as fingers go though it’s not a bad one to break.”

Team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said on Sunday morning: “Ricky Ponting had an x-ray last night that has confirmed a small fracture of his left little finger.”

Australia only need five wickets

England will have to hope for heroics from the likes of James Anderson, Ian Bell and Matt Prior if they are to avoid a heavy defeat in the third Ashes Test (Ian Bell 6/4 with Stan James to be top England batsman).

Anderson has yet to get off the mark and Bell is the next man in as England go into the fourth day knowing they are staring defeat in the face in Perth.

Twice England’s top order have failed at the WACA, and Australia’s chief tormentor Mitchell Johnson will be sensing more blood as the Aussie home in on a victory that would not only square the series at 1-1 but give them the momentum going into the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

Mike Hussey hit a century as Australia set England 391 to win the Test. But the tourists’ chances of winning the match and retaining the Ashes were blown away by the Australian bowlers and they had slumped to 81 for five by the close (England 5/6 with Stan James to score over 202.5 runs).

Hussey’s second century of the winter and 95 from Shane Watson helped Australia make 309 in their second innings, which should prove a winning effort. Watson was out lbw after taking the verdict to DRS, but elsewhere appeals saw Steven Smith twice reprieved and Mike Hussey’s lbw to Tramlett overturned.

Tremlett finally ended a stand of 75 when Smith fended one behind to Matt Prior.

Tremlett removed Haddin then, either side of Hussey’s hundred, Johnson and Ryan Harris came and went for just a single each.

Paul Collingwood had Johnson caught at cover, and Harris pulled Steven Finn (three for 97) into the hands of deep midwicket.

Tremlett had Hussey caught in the legside deep and James Anderson picked up his 200th Test wicket when Peter Siddle edged to slip.

In reply, England were one down for 23 when Cook was lbw, then Strauss was caught at slip by Ponting (Australia 6/4 with Stan James to win the Ashes).

Kevin Pietersen edged a Hilfenhaus delivery to slip, then Jonathan Trott was out for 31 when Ponting parried a catch to Haddin. Collingwood, caught by Smith at third slip for 11 off the bowling of Harris, was the fifth wicket right at the end (England 5/6 to score 200 or over).

Australia show that the Ashes are still up for grabs

Despite the fact that Australia had appeared both down and out, the Ashes series has once again displayed clearly just why it is considered to be the most exciting series in Test cricket, with the Aussies well and truly turning on the style, in the process pulling themselves right back into contention against all the Ashes odds in the third Test in Perth.

In previous series, the Waca showed itself to be a formidable wicket for English batsmen, so it was hardly unlikely that the Australians were going to succeed in their bid to pull out all the stops and let the English side know that the hosts still have a major say in determining where the Ashes are going to end up come the end of the series.

Whilst the English are still in charge of the series, the fact remains that the Australians will be right back in the series if they can continue their current form and end the third Test as winners. This scenario would, however, come as something of a shock to the majority of the British public, with English cricket fans so far allowed to enjoy reading only positive reviews of their side’s stellar performances down under, with Australian commentators frequently commenting that their side’s one big hope could be the overconfidence of their opponents and their opponent’s supporters.

Tomorrow is likely to be a decisive day in the Ashes series, and Australia know that any lead of over 200 could end up being crucial in determining just how much longer the current series is going to remain competitive. Should they achieve this level of score, it would leave England with a small mountain to climb as they seek to grab back the initiative that they had seemed to generate after the first day of the Test.

Aussie selectors’ shock Johnson claim

Australian selector Greg Chappell has suggested Mitchell Johnson (13/5 with Stan James – Top Australia Wicket-Taker 1st Innings) was ‘rotated’ and not dropped for the second Ashes Test in Adelaide after recalling him for Thursday’s match in Perth.

The Australian media have accused the selectors of reactively chopping and changing the bowling attack, but Chappell countered by revealing that Johnson had been scheduled to miss the Adelaide Test before the Ashes began (Australia 13/8 to win 3rd Test).

The paceman looked woefully erratic against England (13/8) at the Gabba and was seemingly dropped for the second Test, but it was all carefully planned – according to Chappell who said the hectic schedule of five Tests in seven weeks led the panel to devise a rotation strategy.

“We didn’t plan for Mitch to struggle in Brisbane, but certainly we had made plans beforehand to leave him out of the second Test because we felt the conditions would have suited Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris and Doug Bollinger,” Chappell said yesterday.

“Mitch was certainly out of sorts. It was always dependent of form, if he had brained them in Brisbane we would have given him consideration for Adelaide, but with five Tests in seven weeks we felt we needed to mix and match the attack to suit the conditions. It is a marathon.

“We planned before the series that we wanted him up and running for Brisbane and Perth. It hasn’t all gone to plan, we need him to find form and to have confidence going into the Perth Test and be a match winner.”

Broad’s dream over

Stuart Broad admitted he was “devastated” to learn that he will miss the rest of the Ashes series after picking up an abdominal injury in Adelaide (England 13/8 with Stan James to win 3rd Test).

The 24-year-old tore an abdominal muscle while bowling on the fourth day of the second Test and played no part on the fifth day as England wrapped up victory to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Broad has been in decent form Down Under and is generally regarded as England’s quickest bowler when he gets it right with the ability to generate steep bounce due to his 6’6″ frame (Swann 10/11 with Stan James to be top England wicket-taker in Ashes).

But he will be forced to watch the rest of the series from the sidelines and the Notts man pulled no punches in expressing how he felt about the news.

“Playing for England in an Ashes series in Australia has been something I’ve dreamed of for a long time so to have that cut short by injury is devastating,” he said.

“So far the series has been everything I had anticipated and knowing I’ll play no further part is quite hard to take.”

England have the option of bringing in Ajmal Shahzad, Tim Bresnan or Chris Tremlett for the third Test in Perth, with Tremlett the favourite as he would be considered a like-for-like replacement due to his pace and height.

Bresnan is a better batsman than Tremlett and will come into the equation, with the selectors looking for stability at number eight.

However, with the top six scoring runs for fun, he may be overlooked with England more than capable of scoring enough runs at the top of the order.