2010 Ashes Preview – England and Australia to come out all guns blazing
The oldest rivalry in the game will play out once again in a star-studded and action-packed Ashes series set to begin today in Brisbane, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. The traditional rivalry dates back to 1882 when the England cricket team was defeated
by Australia (an Engligh colony at the time) in a single low-scoring Test match played at the Oval.
This year, the England side is led by Andrew Strauss and the Aussies are led by Ricky Ponting. This will be Ricky Ponting's eighth Ashes series and he has thus far played in 31 Ashes matches. This year’s Ashes is pegged as the
most important one for both captains as it may be the last Ashes series for both.
The Australian side has not been performing well in recent days, so analysts are favoring England to win. Even though Australia has been known to be particularly difficult to beat on home soil, the Aussies are going into this series
on the back of three consecutive Test defeats – a very shocking statistic, as Australia had not lost three consecutive Test matches since 1988.
England, meanwhile, has been enjoying a good run, including an impressive performance against Australia A. Ian Bell fired 192 runs in that match and will play a key factor if England wants to break its 24-year Ashes curse in Australia.
(England has not won the Ashes in Australia since the 1986-87 series.) It was Stuart Broad’s heroics last year that helped England take the Ashes, and this year the picture looks much the same. The English side is banking heavily on Broad. Sharing the seam
attack with Broad and James Anderson will be new pace bowler Steven Finn, who is just 21 and very talented, but may be targeted by Australian batsmen due to his lack of experience in Australian conditions. Graeme Swann, the English spin wizard, is also seen
as an important player for England this year.
Australia has its hopes resting on the shoulders of pacer Mitchell Johnson, who in recent years has shown his ability to turn the game around with both the bat and the ball. Johnson shares the pace attack with Ben Hilfenhaus and
Peter Siddle, who will have to work very hard to topple the English giants. Australia has yet to find a suitable replacement for leg spinner Shane Warne since he retired in 2007. Currently, Australia is playing a new spinner named Xavier Doherty, the seventh
spinner to wear the baggy green since Warne’s retirement. Doherty is still a relatively unknown player who took four wickets against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 in his one-day debut. Australia is no doubt hoping that he will be able to reproduce his heroics in the classic format
of the game. Stuart Clarke, who suffered from a back problem recently, has also recovered for the big event.
Here are the probable lists of each side’s final playing eleven. Let’s hope that cricket lovers are in for a treat.
England (probable): http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JM-Anderson-c1705.
Australia: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/BW-Hilfenhaus-c1204.
Umpires: A Dar (Pak) and B Doctrove (WI)
Third umpire: T Hill (NZ)
Match referee: J Crowe (NZ)
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