Stop blaming the selectors. Give Ricky Ponting and Michael Clark a break. Leave the coach alone. It was the La Nina that beat us, and it has taken a Pommy meteorologist to tell us the truth, writes Richard Farmer.
The Ashes
Should Ponting get the boot?
This year’s Ashes are proving an absolute embarrassment for Australia, particularly for captain Ricky Ponting. Jonathan Howcroft picks who should stay and which players should leave forever.
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The Ashes: ladies and gentlemen, we have a contest
The sporting world turned on its axis on the weekend after Australia convincingly beat England and drew level for the Ashes series. The English have a fight on their hands…and they know it, writes Leigh Josey.
The Ashes Open Thread: Perth Day 1
Today, the Third Test begins in Perth — at the hallowed WACA Ground — and make no mistake; this is it. If Australia puts in a pathetic performance it’s over and England retain the Ashes, writes Leigh Josey.
Wordle of the Week: captains who won an Ashes Test
Crikey Sports latest wordle is constructed from captains who won an Ashes Test (the more Ashes Tests they won as captain, the larger their name appears). One thing they discover is that there are a lot of English captains called Mike…
The Ashes: you have to give it to England
England has won the Second Test in Adelaide and while it’s easy, and fun, to slag off Australia in this match, writes Cricket With Balls’ Jarrod Kimber, instead let’s praise England.
cricket The Ashes Open thread: Adelaide day 5
Channel Nine doesn’t deserve the Ashes when this happens. Bring on “use it or lose it” anti-siphoning laws, says Leigh Josey.
cricket The Ashes Open Thread: Adelaide Day 3
Crikey Sports scribes Tom Cowie and Leigh Josey can’t believe what’s happening. England are on top and it doesn’t look like getting better any time soon.
cricket The Ashes Open Thread: Adelaide Day 2
Join Tom Cowie and Leigh Josey as they cover Day 2 of the Adelaide Ashes Test, trying to make sense of the enigma that is the Australian cricket team.
cricket The Ashes Open Thread: Adelaide Day 1
So here we are. After the test from hell last week, where we somehow drew after a first innings lead of 221, where a part-time off spinner was the sole Australian wicket taker in England’s mammoth second innings, we fly down to beautiful Adelaide for the second Test, writes Tom Cowie.
Australian cricket needs a hero (or a Warne) …. and fast
The English are all over Australia in the Ashes and Australia’s only hope is that somewhere, maybe in some little town out in the bush, the new Warne is working on a few spells, writes The Independent’s James Lawton.
cricket The Ashes Open Thread: Brisbane Day 5
Join Lethal Leigh and Tom Cowie to discuss the fifth day of the Ashes.
cricket The Ashes Open Thread: Brisbane Day 4
The English are fighting back! Who would have thought…
cricket The Ashes Open Thread: Brisbane Day 3
Yesterday was all about Mike Hussey’s mojo. So join Crikey’s Ashes open thread where we discuss, among all things cricket, Mr Cricket’s mojo.
cricket The Ashes Open Thread: Brisbane Day 2
Join Lethal Leigh and Tom Cowie to talk all things Ashes in the Ashes Open Thread: Day Two.
The Ashes open thread: Brisbane day 1
Today, summer officially begins, meaning the cricket season — led by The Ashes — is finally here. The money is on Australia to win the first test and Leigh Josey gives you the players to watch.
Betting the Hilfenhaus on a swinging Ashes series
Watch out for Australian swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus this AShes, writes Cricinfo’s Peter English, for in an age when bowlers hurl the ball into the pitch, Hilfenhaus comes from an older era and starts every innings by trying to swing the new ball.
Brisbane set to determine tone of The Ashes
A good start in Brisbane on Thursday — the First Test of The Ashes — is likely to lead to a good middle and a good end for whichever side takes the lead, writes The Guardian’s Barney Ronay.
Meet the Mitchells: the Gabba’a greenskeeping guardians
Meet Kevin Mitchell and Kevin Mitchell Jnr, the Gabba’s famous curators who have the job to prepare the wicket for the much anticipated First Test of the Ashes in Brisbane, writes Cricinfo’s Peter English.
The transformation of Graeme Swann
He;s a different type of cat, but after spending eight years in the cricketing wilderness Graeme Swann can lay claim to being the best spinner in the world. And how the Australians deal with England’s X Factor will go a long way in determining the Ashes.
The worst Australian cricket side in 30 years
Australian cricket is in a dark place right now, writes The Guardian’s Duncan Fletcher, and you have to go back more than 30 years, to the era when Kerry Packer had tempted away the best players to World Series Cricket, to find the last time the team were in such a muddled state.
Australia is a desert for touring spinners
For opposition tweakers, Australia is a hard place to perform your craft, writes Cricinfo’s S Rajesh.
Despite Australia’s fragility England aren’t favourites
Australia not need despair, writes Cricinfo’s Peter Roebuck, there are still many reasons why England won’t win the Ashes down under.
Has Australia forgotten how to win?
What has happened to the Australian cricketing juggernaut? They are not playing bad cricket, but they’ve lost the ability to close out games, writes The Guardian’s Mike Selvey.
The Ashes: Australia are the new England
The truth is that somebody needs to say it: Australia are simply not very good anymore. They are losing for fun at the moment. They are the new England, writes The Telegraph’s Steve James.
