Sydney: Chronic knee problem, left ankle fracture, hamstring strain, shoulder problem, back strain, hip pain and, most recently, a tender Achilles - Australia's Ryan Harris has had almost as many injuries as he has played Test matches in the last three years.
Such is the esteem in which the 33-year-old pace bowler is held Down Under, however, that this weekend, he will board a jet for England looking to augment his tally of 47 wickets in 12 Tests and help Australia win back the Ashes.
His average of 23.63 tells part of the tale why such an apparently fragile bowler will be on the plane, as does the memory of the 6 for 47 he took in the second innings of the third Test in Perth to help Australia to their only victory in the last Ashes series.
Harris fractured his ankle in the fourth Test of that series and, he admitted, there had been moments in the long months of recuperation from various injuries since that he thought it might be his only Ashes experience. "Absolutely, you have those negative thoughts," he told Reuters in an interview this week. "I've had plenty of injuries, I'm probably going to have another couple, but the fact is I want to be part of this set-up, this team, for as long as I can....
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01:49 PM, May 23, 2013
Sydney: Australia are rightly underdogs for the upcoming Ashes series in England but will do everything they can to bring the coveted urn back home, skipper Michael Clarke said on Wednesday. There was more talk of aspiration than expectation as the Australia squad officially bid farewell to the country in a ceremony at Sydney airport before their departure for England at the weekend. England hold the Ashes after a convincing...
11:22 AM, May 22, 2013
London: Former England captain Andrew Strauss said on Friday it was important for the side's Ashes prospects that star batsman Kevin Pietersen regained full fitness. Pietersen is currently sidelined with a knee problem and in his absence England struggled to 232 all out in the first innings of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's. Strauss retired from all cricket following a 2-0 series defeat by South Africa last...
12:32 AM, May 18, 2013
Sydney: England will have 33 scheduled international playing days on their Ashes tour to Australia starting in November, Cricket Australia said on Thursday. The tour programme includes five Tests, a streamlined five one-day international series, three Twenty20 internationals and five other tour games. The Ashes Test series begins at Brisbane's Gabba ground on November 21 with further Tests in Adelaide (December 5-9), Perth (December 13-17), Melbourne (December 26-30) and the...
04:58 PM, May 16, 2013
Sydney: Australia's pace bowling unit will give the tourists every chance of success in the Ashes series in England but will not be able to win back the precious urn without some help from the batsmen, captain Michael Clarke said on Wednesday. Clarke said the Australians would relish going into the series in July and August as underdogs and that, if fit, pacemen Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, James Pattinson, Mitchell...
10:05 AM, May 15, 2013
Sydney: England will play a two-day match against a Chairman's XI in Alice Springs between the first and second Tests on their Ashes tour of Australia later this year, Cricket Australia announced on Tuesday. The match, originally scheduled for Canberra, will take place on November 29-30 with the England team travelling to and from the Northern Territories by specially arranged direct flights. It will be the first match in the...
09:18 AM, May 07, 2013
Sydney: Australia paceman Mitchell Starc is well on his way back to fitness and has warned England not to write off the tourists' chances of wrenching back the Ashes in July and August. The tall left-armer, who left Australia's calamitous tour of India early to have surgery on his ankle, is expected to play a key role in the first of two Ashes series this year on England's swing-friendly pitches....
10:57 AM, May 03, 2013
London: New Zealand have arrived in London with coach Mike Hesson insisting the Black Caps are determined to be more than just a warm-up act for the Ashes series later in the English season. Such is the interest in the Ashes, which pits England against arch-rivals Australia in the latest edition of cricket's oldest Test rivalry, that many fans in the sport's birthplace could be forgiven for not noticing New...
01:45 AM, May 02, 2013
Allaying all fears that Ryan Harris is set for a long injury layoff, Cricket Australia on Friday said the 33-year-old will be fit for Australia's Ashes campaign, which gets underway on July 10. Harris suffered the Achilles heel injury during the ongoing IPL 6 and was ruled out of the remainder of the season. He returned home for rehabilitation. Harris, who was named in the 16-man squad earlier in the...
11:41 AM, Apr 26, 2013
Sydney: The recall of two 35-year-old veterans for the Ashes shows the lack of quality coming through the Australian ranks, with the squad the "best of a bad lot", country's media said on Thursday. Selectors picked Brad Haddin and Chris Rogers, with five openers among seven specialist batsmen alongside just one spinner, Nathan Lyon, for the five-match series starting in Nottingham on July 10. Given the sorry state of Australian...
11:14 AM, Apr 25, 2013
Sydney: Australian Test spinner Nathan Lyon has made an inter-state switch, leaving South Australia to join New South Wales, Cricket NSW said on Thursday. The New South Wales-born off-spinner, 25, has played 22 Tests and was named on Wednesday in Australia's touring squad to play in this year's Ashes series in England. Cricket NSW said the move will allow Lyon to work closely with former Test bowler Stuart MacGill, who...
08:59 AM, Apr 25, 2013
Sydney: Skipper Michael Clarke says Australia will prove their critics wrong and bring the urn home from England despite his team being panned as the "worst Ashes squad". Clarke has backed his 16-man party named on Wednesday to do the job in five Tests against England, starting at Nottingham's Trent Bridge ground on July 10. Sections of the British press have slammed Clarke's touring party with The Daily Mail declaring:"...
08:54 AM, Apr 25, 2013
Sydney: Former Australian captains Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor are backing the unfancied tourists to shock England and bring the famous Ashes urn home. Waugh said carrying the underdog tag could work in Australia's favour in the five-Test series from July, providing the team belief it could win and not merely compete. "We've got the bowlers to take 20 wickets," he told reporters. "We can beat any team in the...
04:24 PM, Apr 24, 2013
Sydney: Veteran wicketkeeper batsman Brad Haddin said on Wednesday he never doubted he would play Test cricket again and vowed to help instil the team spirit needed for Australia to win the Ashes series against arch-rivals England. The 35-year-old has played only one Test since January 2012 but now finds himself vice-captain to Michael Clarke and the preferred wicketkeeper in a team humbled by India 4-0 in March. Selectors hope...
01:17 PM, Apr 24, 2013
Sydney: Veteran wicketkeeper Brad Haddin was recalled to the Australian squad on Wednesday and made vice-captain for their upcoming Ashes tour to England with Chris Rogers and Ryan Harris also making the grade. Haddin, who has only played one Test in the past 14 months and turns 35 next week, replaces Shane Watson as Michael Clarke's deputy in a 16-man squad for the five-Test series starting in England in July....
08:39 AM, Apr 24, 2013
England batsman Kevin Pietersen may consider quitting Test cricket after this year's back-to-back Ashes series against Australia, his former team-mate Andrew Flintoff said on Thursday. Pietersen, 32, has been ruled out of next month's two-match Test series at home to New Zealand because of a knee injury he sustained during fielding practice in the away series against the same side last month. "I wouldn't read too much into his not...
07:22 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Melbourne: Mired in gloom following a Test drubbing in India, Australian cricket has turned to Canberra's halls of power for succour, asking the country's top immigration official to act as a de facto selector ahead of back-to-back Ashes series this year. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Australia's bid to secure a passport to England for Fawad Ahmed, a 31-year-old Pakistani refugee with just 13 first-class matches under his...
03:29 PM, Apr 11, 2013
Sydney: Allrounder James Faulkner has surged into contention to play in this year's Ashes series in England after being a surprise recipient of a Cricket Australia contract, reports said. The Tasmanian, who was previously regarded as a limited-overs specialist, leapfrogged recent Test debutant Moises Henriques to earn a central contract for the 2013-14 year, from July. Faulkner does not turn 23 until later this month but has already played 95...
08:29 AM, Apr 04, 2013
Kolkata: Admitting that Australia was totally outplayed by India in the recently concluded Test series, former Aussie pacer Brett Lee on Friday said that Australians have a tough job at hand in the upcoming Ashes series. "Australians haven't played their best cricket. In fact, we were totally outplayed. It is not great for Australian cricket," said Lee, who plays for the city's IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. The pacer also...
09:44 PM, Mar 29, 2013
London: England spinner Graeme Swann has revealed he is on course to return from an elbow injury in time for this year's Ashes showdown against Australia. Swann was sidelined for England's recent drawn Test series in New Zealand after undergoing surgery in the United States earlier this month in an attempt to cure the long-standing problem. He first visited the specialist clinic in Minnesota in 2009 and the treatment allowed...
11:37 PM, Mar 28, 2013
