Cricket News sort by Australia tour of England 2013

Australia Cricket will see a second Pakistan-born player in its team after Usman Khawaja in 31-year-old Fawad Ahmed. The 31-year-old leggie has been picked in the 18-man Australia squad for the 5-match ODI Series in England and the Only ODI in Scotland.

Australia did not head into the ongoing Ashes series as favourites. Hence, it should not be surprising that they are 3-0 down in the contest with only The Oval Test to go. But yes, they would be disappointed at the kind of performances they have put in over the four matches.

The scoreline of 3-0 in favour of England after four Ashes Tests suggests that they have dominated the series. Indeed they have, but the most amazing part of England’s performance has been the manner in which they have fought back in each and every game after being under immense pressure.

When a team dominates a Test for two days, they should be mighty disappointed to lose the match in four days. This heart-breaking feeling is what Australia must be experiencing having caved in to give up their Ashes challenge on Monday.

England won the fourth Test by 74 runs to capture the Ashes Series 3-0 with one more match to play.

When Australia resumed day three of the Chester-le-Street Test, they went in with hopes of building a decent first-innings lead over the Englishmen. However, at the end of the day’s play, it was the England camp that was smiling.

The Ashes, which till couple of weeks back was looking totally one-sided, has suddenly come alive. And, a lot of that has been due to some exceptional determination from the Aussies under pressure.

When Chris Rogers swept Graeme Swann to the square leg boundary shortly before bad light halted play on the second day of the fourth Ashes test, the 35-year old became the second oldest Australian to record a maiden test century.

Australia’s Ashes comeback just seems to be getting better with each passing day in the series. After dominating the Englishmen at Old Trafford, the visitors continued to hold the upper hand at stumps on day two as well at Chester-le-Street.