For English cricket, an Ashes tour down-under conjures up all kinds of images and emotions: there’s the abuse we get from Aussie fans sitting in Sydney’s infamous Bay 13, there’s painful memories of our batsmen having their heads knocked off at Perth, and who can forget the intimidating atmosphere on Boxing Day at the MCG when 90,000 Australians in canary yellow replica shirts start baying for English blood. An Ashes tour down under is every England cricketer’s Everest: emerge victorious...
Confusion reigns at the WACA
I’ve got to admit it. I haven’t got a clue how to preview this match. We don’t know what the pitch will be like. Reports vary from ‘as fast as Kevin Pietersen in a Lamborghini’ to ‘as slow as an Australian selector’s brain’ – talking of which, we don’t have a clue what the Australian team is going to be either. Recent reports suggest it’s going to be a straight fight between Peter Siddle and Michael Beer for the sixth bowling spot (I’m counting Watson and Steve Smith as genuine all-rounders)...
