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It’s here! The Ashes commences again as Australia hosts England, winners of the last three series in the first of five Tests, starting in Brisbane, at the Gabba.
The Roar will be hosting live scores of all Test matches and a comprehensive, interactive blog, with live Q&A sessions, wraps and features from all
You can follow the live score of this first Ashes Test between Australia and England here and you can also post your comments and feedback below.
Preview: It’s been less than three months since these two teams last played a Test match against each other and they are back to reignite the world’s oldest international cricketing rivalry.
The Gabba in Brisbane is Australia’s fortress, and will be hoping to exploit their good record there – it’s been 25 years since they lost a Test at the ground, winning 17 and drawing seven in the process.
England will be mindful of that record but it will not deter them too much. As they showed in India earlier this year, records are meant to be broken, as they went on to win their first series in the country in more 28 years.
By way of personnel, not too much has changed for both teams since their last Test series.
England had made a couple of radical changes in the last game of that series but that aside, there will be two new-comers to their line-up.
Michael Carberry has replaced Joe Root at the top of the order but the Yorkshireman’s tenacity has allowed him to retain his place in the playing XI. He will now walk out at the number six spot in place of Jonny Bairstow, who had a poor Ashes series.
Bairstow could still make it to the starting line-up if Matt Prior does not recover in time for this game. He is down with a calf injury and while he practiced on Monday, it remains to be seen whether England will want to risk playing him in the game ahead of a long series.
Bairstow’s reserve wicket-keeper status has been panned by many former English cricketers, but he did have a decent warm-up game last week behind the stumps.
The other change England will see is with their third seam bowling option.
Tim Bresnan has been ruled out, which means one of Chris Tremlett, Steven Finn or Boyd Rankin will make it to the side.
Tremlett looks to be the favourite to join James Anderson and Stuart Broad as he resurrects his Test career, which has seen him play only 11 Tests over almost five years.
Australia’s line-up was more or less decided when the selectors announced their 12-man squad for this first Test.
Shane Watson’s injured hamstring was their only concern but the news is good in that regard.
Watson is definitely fit enough to make it to the starting XI as a pure batsman and if reports are to be believed, he could even start bowling towards the end of the game. He has been seen marking his run-up this morning, in nice blue paint.
Will captain Michael Clarke risk him in the bowling attack? He may have to if wickets don’t fall.
The build-up to the series has been punctuated with the typical mental warfare one would associate with a series of this magnitude.
A Brisbane newspaper called Kevin Pietersen arrogant enough to be disliked by his own teammates, to which he responded not too many outside Australia have even heard of Brisbane.
Similarly, Stuart Broad was accused of being responsible for moving a couple of spectators out of their warm-up match after he was allegedly heckled by them. Broad has denied those charges.
Earlier, Alastair Cook admitted Shane Warne’s assessment of him being a less than imaginative captain raised his blood pressure but one can expect him to remain cool under pressure.
All of which makes for a wonderful pot-boiler of a contest that starts on Thursday.
Follow the live scores and updates throughout the match of this first Ashes Test between Australia and England from 10:30am AEDT.
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