The Ashes

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Australia in the drivers seat.

 

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Australia 173/3 (28.5 ov)
D Warner 71
Bopara 1-12

Australia require another 71 runs with 7 wickets and 21.1 overs remaining
Victory in the sight of Aussies.:c

 

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England lose the match by 7 wickets.
England lose the Series.

 

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Australia 244/3 (40.0 ov)

Shaun Marsh 71*

 

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Australia Won by 7 Wickets
With 10 Overs Remaining
Warner & Marsh both got 71

 

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Clarke, Haddin, Warner skip Perth​

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Appealing though another 5-0 sweep of England may sound, Australia's selectors and a few of their players are now turning their attention towards the lofty challenge to be posed in South Africa.

On the eve of the announcement of the squad to face the world's No. 1 Test team it was revealed that none of Michael Clarke, his deputy Brad Haddin, nor opener David Warner would fly to Perth for the penultimate ODI.

The Sydney-based trio will thus join Shane Watson in resting up ahead of the final match of the series in Adelaide on Australia Day, having accomplished the goal of besting England in the limited-overs matches in the quickest time possible. As was the case during the Tests, when rapid wins bought valuable rest time for the fast bowlers, Australia's victories have allowed for extra recuperative days ahead of South Africa.

"I'm going to think about spending three days with my beautiful wife and not think about cricket at all," Clarke said when asked if he was now thinking about Graeme Smith's team. "And then I'll come back in Adelaide, meet the boys there and look forward to hopefully winning and having a 5-0 result.

"But we've got plenty of time to worry about South Africa. After this one-day series we've got a four-day practice game over there and some time to make sure we're looking at the opposition. Right now our opposition's England, we want to win 5-0 here.

"We have a goal to become a better one-day team and get back to being No. 1 in the world, and we're not there. We know we can certainly improve in all facets, I know throughout this series we've seen improvement which is a really positive sign for this team, and I think we've shown even with giving guys a rest, especially the Test boys, we've still been able to have success.

"And I'm really confident in George, he's showed a lot of positive signs in regard to his leadership in the T20 format and certainly in the one day format, and I know he can take the guys to Perth and have success there."

Australia's tour party for South Africa is expected to feature 15 names, the feted XI who played in all five Ashes Tests plus back-up from James Faulkner, Alex Doolan, Jackson Bird and one of James Pattinson or Nathan Coulter-Nile. The only player with major reason to sweat over his place is George Bailey, who struggled to make an impact with the bat in his first series and could conceivably make way for the high scoring Phillip Hughes when the squad is named.

Nevertheless, there is remarkably little about the squad on which to speculate, a by-product of the success enjoyed at home this summer and the sorting of wheat from chaff undertaken by the coach Darren Lehmann during the England tour that preceded it.

Bird's probable return, after a back injury and work to remodel his action, will be opportune, ahead of a series likely to be played on the kinds of surfaces that the similarly tall and steady Stuart Clark once excelled.

"We've played some really good cricket, no doubt about it, but I think the selectors will talk about what they think is the best squad to go and play in those conditions against that attack," Clarke said. "And I think we did that throughout this whole series against England. We picked the 11 players we thought were best for the wicket we were playing on and the attack we were playing against and it worked out that we played the same XI in every Test. I don't think the selectors will have anything else in mind, they want to pick a winning squad."

To that end, the fluent Doolan may be in line to move into the top six, perhaps at No. 3 while Shane Watson drops down to No. 6, where his attacking flair as a batsman and pivotal overs with the ball can be utilised more evenly. Doolan has faced Dale Steyn and company once before, stroking his way to 161 not out for Australia A on an admittedly benign pitch at the SCG in late 2012.

Pattinson and Coulter-Nile are vying for the final pace bowling berth, a race in which the former's better overall record and previous Test experience is weighed up against the latter's greater recent load of match bowling and more fluent current rhythm.

Possible Test squad for South Africa
Michael Clarke (capt), David Warner, Chris Rogers, Alex Doolan, Steve Smith, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wkt), Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird, James Faulkner, Phillip Hughes, Nathan Coulter-Nile

 

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Muirhead and Lynn in Australia's T20 squad​

Legspinner James Muirhead and batsman Chris Lynn will be in line for international debuts after being named in Australia's Twenty20 squad to take on England. Aaron Finch has been named vice-captain to George Bailey for the three-match T20 series that follows the ODIs, with Cameron White and Mitchell Starc both back in the reckoning along with Josh Hazlewood, Ben Cutting and Moises Henriques.

The most surprising selection was that of Muirhead, 20, who has played only four Twenty20 matches in his career, including only two for the Melbourne Stars this summer for a return of one wicket. However, Muirhead did bowl well in the Prime Minister's XI match against England in Canberra, where he took 3 for 52, and he also played against England in two other tour games earlier in the summer.

"We'll select the 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup in the middle of February and we're looking at spin-bowling options," John Inverarity, the national selector, said. "There are a number of spin-bowling options. Xavier Doherty of course has strong claims, Brad Hogg still has strong claims and we're interested in a legspinner also.

"So we're having a look at James Muirhead this time. He's a young man and he's impressed this season when he's played against England. He's a young man who really puts a lot on the ball and his legbreak turns. He's in the squad for the experience and if he plays I'm sure that he'll be striving to make the most of the opportunity."

The inclusion of Lynn was less of a surprise as he has been one of state cricket's most promising young batsmen for several seasons, and this summer has 197 BBL runs at 32.83. A clean striker of the ball for the Brisbane Heat and Queensland, Lynn also impressed the selectors with his 104 and 61 not out when he was drafted into the Western Australia Chairman's XI that took on England before the first Ashes Test.

"[He] had a difficult season last season and wasn't included in Queensland's first Sheffield Shield match," Inverarity said of Lynn. "He came here to play against England for the Western Australia XI and made a century, and hasn't looked back. He's a fine striker of the ball."

James Faulkner is the only member of Australia's Test squad to tour South Africa who will also be part of the T20s against England, with other senior T20 players such as David Warner and Shane Watson to focus on their Test preparations. Starc will be back for his first internationals since the Ashes tour of England, having missed the home Ashes with a back injury.

"Mitchell Starc has a fine record in international T20 cricket and is an important player in our ICC World Twenty20 campaign," Inverarity said. "It is anticipated that he will be ready to perform by the end of this month."

Twenty20 squad
George Bailey (capt), Aaron Finch (vice-capt), Daniel Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Cutting, James Faulkner, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, James Muirhead, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade (wk), Cameron White.

 

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Mitchell Johnson could captain Australia in 4th ODI against England if George Bailey pulls out due to groin strain​

Mitchell Johnson surprised a few when he beat Michael Clarke to the Allan Border medal © Getty Images ​

Melbourne: Jan 21, 2014


Australian pace sensation Mitchell Johnson is reportedly only a injury away from becoming the captain of the One Day International (ODI) squad, which will be a fitting addition to his trophy box containing the Allan Border Medal and the best Australian cricketer of the year title.


If current skipper George Bailey‘s groin strain starts to ache in Perth on Friday, the fast bowler, who is the vice-captain, will lead his country against England, which shows how much Australian selectors think of him with Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson and David Warner rested for the ODI clash.


According to Telegraph.com.au, it is an incredible show of faith considering Johnson’s well-publicised battles with family and personal issues at various stages of his roller-coaster career, although it is also a richly deserved appointment considering he has never been in better form, on and off the field.


The Johnson of 2014 is a vastly different character to past versions and he has never been more confident, happy and self-assured, and the report further said that he would be an aggressive one-day leader of his country even if it were for one night only, in his current frame of mind.

 

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England (possible)- 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Ben Stokes, 4 Gary Ballance, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Chris Jordan, 11 James Tredwell / Chris Woakes.

Australia- 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 George Bailey (capt), 4 Steven Smith, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Matthew Wade (wk), 7 Daniel Christian, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 11 James Pattinson.