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“If Australia play well and he continues to captain the way he does, I think England are going to lose the series”
Former Australia spin king Shane Warne has taken a jab at Alastair Cook just weeks before the start of the Ashes series, stating that the England captain “can be negative, boring, not very imaginative”.
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“Hopefully it won’t be too bad at all, and won’t put me out for too long”
Just a day after he succumbed to a hamstring injury during Australia’s 57-run loss to India in the seventh ODI in Bangalore, baggy greens all-rounder Shane Watson has revealed that his injury is “not too bad”.
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Watson will undergo further tests in order to assess how serious his injury is
The entire Australia team will be sweating and desperate to find out just how serious all-rounder Shane Watson’s hamstring injury is after he pulled up when running in to deliver the first ball of his sixth over in the final ODI against India in Bangalore.
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Johnson’s last Test match came against India in March
Australia left-arm pace bowler Mitchell Johnson, who has tormented the Indian batsmen throughout the ongoing seven-match ODI series, has flown home in order to get some much-needed practice prior to the start of the first Ashes Test against arch-rivals England on November 21 in Brisbane.
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Pietersen arrived in Australia yesterday
England batsman Kevin Pietersen has joined up with the rest of his team-mates in the Australian city of Perth after being granted compassionate leave by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
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Clarke will lead New South Wales in their first Sheffield Shield match if he passes a fitness test
Australia captain Michael Clarke is highly likely to make his comeback during New South Wales’ first Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania on October 30 in Sydney.
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“Those days when the guys used to think ‘oh my goodness we are going to Australia again, we are going to get beaten up’ – those days are gone”
England vice-captain Matt Prior believes that this is the best chance his side have to make history as they are just one Ashes win away from beating Australia four times in a row, a feat which has not been accomplished since the 1890s.
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“I know people say that it doesn’t get you runs, wickets or catches, but it gives you the best opportunity to stay fit and the best opportunity to stay away from fatigue”
England vice-captain and wicketkeeper Matt Prior has revealed that “since we won The Ashes in the summer I’ve lost 9kgs (18lb) and feel in the best condition of my whole career”.
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“[Rankin] gives us that option, he obviously hasn’t played a Test match or been around the Test match environment before, so interesting to see how he goes”
With pace bowler Tim Bresnan highly unlikely to be fit in time for the first Ashes Test against Australia on November 21 in Brisbane, Steven Finn, Chris Tremlett and Boyd Rankin will have to battle against each other for the final bowling spot available on the national team roster.
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“We’ll continue to monitor him closely”
Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris has revealed that captain Michael Clarke could start playing first-class cricket as early as next week after having nearly fully recovered from his chronic back injury.
