London: Australia's chairman of selectors has told England now is not the time to dismiss his side's chances of regaining the Ashes, despite the controversy currently engulfing the tourists. Title-holders Australia's early exit from the Champions Trophy tournament in the UK, which included a defeat by arch-rivals England, was compounded when David Warner was suspended until next month' first Test for a bar-room attack on home batsman Joe Root and fined Aus$11,500 (7,000, $11,000).
Warner's conduct was labelled "despicable" by Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland, yet the opening batsman was allowed to remain on tour rather than be sent home. It all raised fresh questions about the squad's discipline, particularly in the light of the 'homework' incident in India earlier this year when four Australia players were made to miss a Test for failing to provide feedback requested by team management during the course of a 4-0 series loss.
Meanwhile captain Michael Clarke, now Australia's best batsman, hasn't played a competitive match since March due to a recurrence of a back injury he suffered in India and was absent again as the team's Champions Trophy exit was confirmed by Monday's 20-run loss to Sri Lanka at The Oval. Australia's 16-man Ashes squad lacks the stellar names of recent times, with Ricky Ponting, now playing for English county Surrey, among the absentees.
But John Inverarity, Australia's chairman of selectors, insisted the Ashes squad contained the "best players available" and that history showed Australia teams written off before
11:17 PM, Jun 18, 2013
Sydney: Captain Michael Clarke says it will be difficult for batsman David Warner to hold his place in the Australian side for next month's first Ashes Test after his bar room punch-up with England's Joe Root. Writing in Sydney's Daily Telegraph on Monday, he said Warner's actions were an unwelcome distraction at the beginning of a four-and-a-half month tour of England and he must work hard to win back the...
08:16 AM, Jun 17, 2013
London: Kevin Pietersen has confirmed he is ready to return from injury and play for Surrey on Friday, boosting England's hopes of the batsman being fit for the start of the Ashes series. Asked by a follower on Twitter if he would be involved in Surrey's County Championship match against Yorkshire, Pietersen replied "YES I AM!" Pietersen has not played since March and faces a race against time to prove...
06:42 PM, Jun 16, 2013
London: Australia captain Michael Clarke has insisted the side will put their off-field troubles behind them and be "100 per cent ready for the Ashes" come next month's first Test against England. The latest in a recent line of high-profile disciplinary problems saw opener David Warner suspended Thursday by Cricket Australia until the start of the first Test in Nottingham on July 10 after punching England batsman Joe Root in...
09:16 AM, Jun 14, 2013
London: Ian Botham has warned Australia that England are so superior to their old rivals that it would be no surprise to see back-to-back whitewashes in the forthcoming Ashes double-header. England legend Botham believes his country's 48-run win over Australia in the Champions Trophy on Saturday is likely to be the first in a long line of victories in their meetings over the next few months. The former all-rounder, who...
03:04 PM, Jun 10, 2013
Tripoli: Libya's army chief of staff resigned on Sunday as an elite military unit took control of a base of pro-government militias after clashes killed 31 people in the eastern city of Benghazi. The developments underlined the security chaos in Libya more than a year and a half after longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi was deposed in a civil war. The violence broke out on Saturday when protesters stormed a base...
11:20 PM, Jun 09, 2013
Birmingham: England captain Alastair Cook says he will not be thinking of the upcoming Ashes series when his team faces old foes Australia in their Champions Trophy opener at Edgbaston on Saturday. "With the Ashes coming up everyone is going to talk about that," Cook told reporters at the Birmingham ground on Friday. "The Champions Trophy is such an important event in itself. You obviously want to start well against...
09:59 PM, Jun 07, 2013
Sydney: Former Pakistan asylum-seeker Fawad Ahmed moved a step closer to playing in the Ashes against England after being rushed into the Australia A squad for their tour of Britain on Thursday. "Fawad is a spin bowler of interest and we look forward to seeing how he performs for Australia A," chief selector John Inverarity said, expressing confidence his citizenship would be fast-tracked. A bill to amend the Citizenship Act,...
08:14 AM, Jun 06, 2013
London: Shane Warne believes "heroic" and "courageous" Pakistani-born legspinner Fawad Ahmed can become an unlikely Ashes hero for Australia in England later this year. Former refugee Ahmed, 31, will be eligible if minor changes to Australia's citizenship legislation pass through parliament in the next few weeks, having fled his native Pakistan in 2010. Australia currently have only one spinner in their 16-man squad in Nathan Lyon but there are many...
08:47 AM, Jun 05, 2013
London: Former England captain David Gower wound up the tension ahead of the forthcoming Ashes by labelling Australia as a country with no culture, accusing their cricketers of an "animal mentality" and warning of "feral" crowds Down Under. Gower's remarks came ahead of the first of several meetings between the old rivals this English season, starting with Saturday's Champions Trophy clash at Edgbaston, that include five Tests, two Twenty20 fixtures...
06:07 PM, Jun 04, 2013
London: Australia all-rounder Shane Watson says the team's last tour of India, where it was whitewashed 0-4, was the lowest point of his cricket career. "Whatever happened throughout India, certainly for me personally, was the lowest point in my cricket career, there's no doubt about that." he said. "The decisions that were made were made for a reason and we certainly have to move forward as a team because we've...
05:19 PM, Jun 02, 2013
London: Shane Warne believes Kevin Pietersen is so vital to England's chances that Australia will regain the Ashes if the star batsman is unfit. Pietersen is currently recovering from a knee injury and batted in the nets alongside his England team-mates at Lord's on Thursday as they prepared for a one-day series with New Zealand. In Pietersen's absence, England this week wrapped up a 2-0 series whitewash over New Zealand...
10:50 PM, May 30, 2013
Canberra, Australia: The Australian government is fast-tracking legislation that could clear the way for Pakistani legspinner Fawad Ahmed to play for Australia in the forthcoming Ashes series against England starting July. The 31-year-old is a permanent resident of Australia after being accepted as a refugee, but needs to be an Australian citizen to become eligible for selection to Australia's Test team. Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor introduced an amendment to citizenship...
08:50 AM, May 30, 2013
London: England team director Andy Flower said on Wednesday that he was "thinking optimistically" about star batsman Kevin Pietersen's chances of returning to fitness in time for the Ashes series against Australia. A knee injury has kept Pietersen out of action since March, forcing him to miss the current series at home to New Zealand, the Indian Premier League, and next month's Champions Trophy. He hopes to be available for...
08:15 PM, May 29, 2013
Sydney: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has back-tracked on his own suggestion he'd return to Test cricket as an emergency Ashes call-up by ruling himself out of the upcoming series against England. The 38-year-old, one of the best batsmen of his generation, retired from Test cricket in December with 13 378 runs, including 41 hundreds, in 168 matches at an average of 51.85 to his name. Ponting is in England,...
06:44 PM, May 29, 2013
London: Ricky Ponting has revealed he might not be able to resist the lure of the Ashes if Australia asked him to come out of Test retirement. The combative 38-year-old, who quit the international scene in December, is the most successful captain in Test history but lost three Ashes series including the last time the two teams met in 2011 when England won 3-1 away. The latest five-match battle against...
02:56 PM, May 29, 2013
Skipper Michael Clarke says spinner Nathan Lyon needs not look over his shoulder in England in the coming months despite the looming presence of Fawad Ahmed in the Australian team set-up. Lyon was the only spin bowler named in the 16-man squad for the five-Test Ashes series starting on July 10, but there is mounting speculation Pakistani-born leg-spinner Ahmed will be drafted into the side at his expense. Former refugee...
10:18 AM, May 27, 2013
Sydney: Skipper Michael Clarke said on Sunday he is looking for success in next month's Champions Trophy to gain Ashes series momentum for his side against England. Clarke and several players left on Sunday for England to prepare for the June 6-23 Champions Trophy in England and Wales as a prelude to the five-Test Ashes series in July-August. While interest has centred on the Ashes starting at Nottingham's Trent Bridge...
05:29 PM, May 26, 2013
Leeds: Kevin Pietersen remains a talking point, even when he's injured, and so it was that England captain Alastair Cook found himself being quizzed about the star batsman in Leeds on the eve of the second and final Test against New Zealand at Headingley. It was at Headingley last year that Pietersen scored a spectacular century against his native South Africa only to say that it was "difficult being me"....
08:33 AM, May 24, 2013
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...
01:49 PM, May 23, 2013
