Rugby and Cricket News
Living With The Lions Sports Travel

Until England’s untimely collapse on the second morning of the First test v Pakistan, it looked like Morgan’s first test century was setting us up for a big total! Nonetheless it is great to see this young talent making it now in the test side and I personally hope we will be seeing a lot more of him in Australia.

We are pleased to announce that the England and Leicestershire wicket-keeper batsman Paul Nixon has informed us that he will is looking forward to joining Living WIth The Lions on tour in Australia in 2010. As an Official Travel Agent for the 3 Mobile Ashes Tour, Living WIth The Lions are able to offer a range of packages to all 5 of the test match series.

2010-11 Australian international summer of cricket

KFC Twenty20 International

• 12 January 2011 Australia v England Adelaide
• 14 January 2011 Australia v England Melbourne

Commonwealth Bank Series

• 16 January 2011 Australia v England Melbourne
• 21 January 2011 Australia v England Hobart
• 23 January 2011 Australia v England Sydney
• 26 January 2011 Australia v England Adelaide
• 30 January 2011 Australia v England Brisbane
• 2 February 2011 Australia v England Sydney
• 6 February 2011 Australia v England Perth

We are very pleased to announce that Living With The Lions Sports Travel has become one of the official licensed travel operators for the 3 mobile Ashes Tour to Australia in 2010/11. For more information, please see the cricket section on our website where we will soon be releasing travel packages which will of course include official tickets. With England performing so well in South Africa in this test match, excitement will only build over the next twelve months as the possibility of England retaining the Ashes and winning overseas increases.

Ricky Ponting is keen to continue leading Australia, despite his record of being the first captain, either English or Australian, to lose the Ashes twice. While others have lost more than one Ashes series, no-one other than him has lost twice where their side has entered both series as the holders.

It has also been over 100 years since an Aussie captain lost two away series against the old enemy, but despite this, perhaps because of it, Ponting is hoping to stay on in the job.

“I still think I’ve got a lot to offer the team, as a batsman and as a captain and as a leader,” said Ponting.

Many have questioned whether he could even be stood down from the job, questioning whether the side’s best batsman would want to continue playing under another captain. Ponting begs to differ.

“If it gets to the point I’m not the captain, my hunger and determination to keep playing are as good as ever.”

Ponting has come in for a lot of criticism from an Aussie media accustomed to victory, but having previously been lucky enough to captain a side chock full of all-time great players, he is now being forced to manage with more meagre resources.

Players like Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne are irreplaceable and as well as his bowlers have performed at different times, there is still a good deal of inconsistency from the bowlers. Mitchell Johnson, heralded as the best fast bowler in the world upon his arrival in England, is the prime example, folding under the spotlight in the first few Tests, before fighting back to show better form towards the end of this Ashes cricket tour.

These players will become more consistent with experience, which explains why Ponting is considering returning to England one more time.

It was a statistical quirk of the 2009 Ashes series that almost all of the top run-scorers were Australian and top three wicket-takers were also members of the touring side. The one exception was England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, who led by example in scoring more runs than any batsman on either side.

“When we were bad we were very bad and when we were good we managed to be good enough,” he said and that was really the story of the series. England won the crucial passages of play. One thinks back to Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar batting out 40 minutes in the first Test to save the game as being a prime example of this.

Australia captain, Ricky Ponting, seemed to agree, saying that when his side had had a bad session, it had inevitably been a very bad session. Several batting collapses put them in vulnerable positions throughout the series and conceding first innings deficits put them on the back foot in three of the matches.

The series also saw the final Test appearance of Andrew Flintoff, who will only play the shorter formats when he returns from his latest operation.

“This one is going to take some time to sink in,” he said. “Walking round the ground seeing family, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It’s a really special moment.”

A see-saw 2009 Ashes series was decided yesterday at the Brit Oval, with England taking the Ashes by two Tests to one.

Having beaten Australia at Lord’s for the first time in 75 years, England had given their lead away in the penultimate Test at Headingley, where they were beaten by an innings by an Australian side which seemed to have shaken off the uncharacteristic inconsistency that had plagued its tour.

Coming into the final Test, with England’s middle order looking fragile and Australia seemingly dominant once again, few would have given the home side much of a chance of emerging victorious. That feeling persisted after they made just 332 after winning the toss and choosing to bat.

The pitch had shown signs of very early deterioration as well as signs of taking spin on that first day, but the total still seemed a number of runs short at a ground where high scores are commonplace. When Australia reached 73-0, England supporters were pessimistic.

At that point, the entire series spun on its axis thanks to England’s new all-rounder, Stuart Broad. England’s talisman, Andrew Flintoff, might have been playing his final Test, but the spotlight belonged to the man who might prove to be his replacement. In a breathtaking spell of bowling, Broad destroyed Australia’s top order, taking 5-37 and from that point on, England were suddenly favourites.

The man so often referred to as England’s talisman, Andrew Flintoff, is set to play his final Test for England this week at the Oval.

Quite apart from it being Flintoff’s farewell appearance in white clothing – he is still available for one-day internationals and Twenty20 – it is also an Ashes decider, so there is no bigger stage for the Lancashire all-rounder to bow out on.

With the series at 1-1, England must win to regain the Ashes as Australia are the holders following their 5-0 victory in 2006-07. As ever, the presence of Flintoff is vital for the team, if only because his all-round abilities allow them to play five bowlers without having too long a tail.

Speaking about his chances of playing, Flintoff said:

“I’ve been working with (physio) Dave Roberts, had some batting over the weekend, and bowled on Tuesday. I’m confident I’ll come through. I’m probably in a better state than I was going into the third Test at Edgbaston. I think I’m more or less there, I just have to prove it.”

After an innings defeat at Headingley, where Flintoff didn’t play, England will be hoping he will return. Fairy stories are rare in top level sport, but would anyone bet against a man who, like Botham, seems to have his own personal scriptwriter drawing out his career?

England’s generally conservative selection policy would seem to indicate that Mark Ramprakash’s chances of playing in the fifth Ashes Test at the Oval are slim, but England national selector, Geoff Miller, said he wasn’t out of the running when the Surrey batsman’s chances of selection the other day.

For his part, Ramprakash himself says he would be ‘thrilled’ to make an unforeseen comeback in such a crucial match.

Ramprakash last played for England in 2002, but having averaged around 100 for the last three years, his name has repeatedly cropped up in England discussions. The closest he has come is being named as the reserve batsman for England’s cricket tour to Sri Lanka, although he was never called upon to join the squad in the end.

The England selectors generally show faith with players, but a poor run of form for Ravi Bopara batting at three and continuing doubts about Ian Bell’s suitability for Test cricket have meant Ramprakash’s name has been cropping up more and more with the fifth and final Ashes Test a must-win for England.

A Test average of just 27.32 may not do the Surrey batsman justice, but he perhaps justifiably claims that he is not the same batsman as he was then. Regardless of this fact, it would be a brave and uncharacteristic move by the selectors to recall a batsman who is almost 40 and who has long been thought to be lacking the necessary mental resilience for the Test game.

The Test at Headingley which starts at the end of the week is a must win for Australia after the sides settled for a draw at rain soaked Edgbaston. Not too much was said at the time about Australia’s performance but one point to note was the milestone reached by batsman Ricky Ponting, the highest Test run scorer ever for Australia.

With Andrew Flintoff struggling for fitness again, and the Headingley ground being a completely different proposition from the pitch at Edgbaston, England have given a shock call up to uncapped batsman Jonathan Trott. The right hander is included in the 14 man squad which also features seamer Ryan Sidebottom with Monty Panesar dropped.

Trott already has 831 first class runs this season and his average is an amazing 83. And with the hosts needing just one win from the remaining two games his introduction could be the stuff of every cricketer’s dreams. With pace bowling options in the form of Ryan Sidebottom and Steve Harmison the final eleven is yet to be decided.

Another question yet to be answered is whether Australia will include Brett Lee. The paceman has missed the first three Tests with a side strain and there are still some concerns over his fitness.
With the test only a couple of days away and the long range weather forecast looking good, this could be the weekend to watch the cricket.