The Ashes Fixtures 2010

Ricky Ponting said he had to cop the blame for his regrettable decision to bat first in Australia’s three-wicket Test loss to Pakistan at Headingley.
Pakistan snapped Australia’s 13-Test winning streak against them and recorded their first Test triumph against the national side for 15 years in Saturday’s tight finish.
But the rot really started for Australia [...]

Ricky Ponting added questionable Ashes preparation to his side’s mounting list of problems before Australia’s bid to topple England later this year.
The captain has plenty to worry about after Australia rounded off another forgettable United Kingdom tour with Saturday’s three-wicket Test loss against Pakistan in Leeds.
Most disturbing has been the form of No.6 Marcus North [...]

Shane Warne believes England will travel to Australia with their best chance of winning the Ashes ‘Down Under’ in more than 20 years. And Warne believes England have a trump card in off-spinner Graeme Swann.
England hold the Ashes after a 2-1 series win on home soil last year but they have not won a Test [...]

Well at least one England team conjured up a winning performance. The country’s footballers may have done their best to reduce the nation to a widespread state of mourning/anger/bewilderment, but the cricketers did their best to alleviate the gloom at Old Trafford with a Natwest Series-clinching victory against the old foe.
The one-wicket defeat of Australia [...]

Anyone sick of endless cricket tournaments, across multiple formats of the game, that have just blended into each other, creating a dull background noise for the winter sports season?
I am (sigh) …
Did you used to look forward to the cricket season and supporting the Australians against the best of the rest?
I did, but now it’s [...]

Australia just failed to pull off a miraculous one-day victory over England as the home side held on to claim an unbeatable 3-0 series lead at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Needing 213 to win, England lost 6-18 in 39 balls late in the run chase before all-rounder Tim Bresnan (14no off 15 balls) squeezed out the [...]

Ben Hilfenhaus last played for Australia back in November, with a man of the match performance against the West Indies at the Gabba.
Since then, he has struggled to get over a knee tendonitis issue, but the Australia A series against Sri Lanka A provides him with a chance to push for Test selection against Pakistan [...]

Shane Warne admits England’s ICC Twenty20 final win against Australia has given them a psychological advantage ahead of the forthcoming Ashes series.
Paul Collingwood’s side defeated Australia by seven wickets on Sunday to end their 35-year wait to win a major global tournament and former Australia leg-spinner Warne believes that success could be influential in the [...]

By any stretch of the imagination, England’s opponents on the field this northern Summer – first Bangladesh in May, followed by Pakistan from July till September – hardly get pulses racing and tongues wagging.
Australia and England will also play a (no doubt un-memorable) five match ODI series series, sandwiched in between Bangladesh and Pakistan. [...]

All things come to those who wait, and it seems that Australian cricket is being rewarded with the maturing of Ricky Ponting as a captain of the national cricket side, one of the most iconic and difficult jobs open to an Australian.
Ling time readers of The Roar will know that I’ve expressed the view many [...]