Top Wicket Takers - England V Australia ODI Series

Top wicket takers in England V Australia, One Day International series. (after 4th ODI) Australia lead series 4-0.

9 Wickets - Brett Lee, AUS
8 Wickets - Mitchell Johnson, AUS
7 Wickets - Shane Watson, AUS
6 Wickets - Nathan Hauritz, AUS
4 Wickets - Nathan Bracken, AUS
3 Wickets - Graeme Swann, ENG
3 Wickets - Luke Wright, ENG
3 Wickets - Paul Collingwood, ENG
3 Wicket - Tim Bresnan, ENG
2 Wicket - James Anderson, ENG
2 Wickets - Ryan Sidebottom, ENG
1 Wicket - Ravi Bopara, ENG
1 Wicket - James Hopes, ENG
1 Wicket - Adil Rashid, ENG

Top Run Scorers - England V Australia ODI Series

Top run scorers in England V Australia, One Day International series. (after 4th ODI) Australia lead series 4-0.


200 - Cameron White, AUS
185 - Andrew Strauss, ENG
169 - Callum Ferguson, AUS
163 - Michael Clarke, AUS
113 - Shane Watson, AUS
112 - Ravi Bopara, ENG
107 - Paul Collingwood, ENG
106 - Tim Paine, AUS
99 - Owais Shah, ENG
79 - Luke Wright, ENG
70 - Eoin Morgan, ENG
58 - Matt Prior, ENG
48 - Ricky Ponting, AUS
47 - Tim Bresnan, ENG
43 - Mitchell Johnson, AUS
39 - Ryan Sidebottom, ENG
36 - Mike Hussey, AUS
35 - Adil Rashid, ENG
29 - James Hopes, AUS
21 - Graeme Swann, ENG
11 - Joe Denly, ENG
10 - Nathan Hauritz, ENG
4 - Stuart Broad, ENG

Australia ODI Squad to play England - 2009

Australian Squad to take on England in best of 7 One Day International Series.

Ricky Ponting (C)
Michael Clarke
Nathan Bracken
Callum Ferguson
Nathan Hauritz
Ben Hilfenhaus
James Hopes
Michael Hussey
Mitchell Johnson
Brett Lee
Graham Manou (WK)
Tim Paine (WK)
Peter Siddle
Adam Voges
Shane Watson
Cameron White

England ODI Squad to play Australia - 2009

England Squad to take on Australia in best of 7 One Day International Series.

Andrew Strauss (C)
James Anderson
Ravi Bopara
Tim Bresnan
Stuart Broad
Paul Collingwood
Joe Denly
Eoin Morgan
Matt Prior (WK)
Adil Rashid
Owais Shah
Ryan Sidebottom
Graeme Swann
Luke Wright

England V Australia - 1st Twenty20

Australia will be looking to start taking their revenege for the Ashes defeat in the first of two T20 matches at Old Trafford today. Both sides are virtually unrecognisable from the two teams that competed in the 5 macth test series which finished last Sunday at The Oval.

England will give a start to opener Joe Denly who made his debut against Ireland in Belfast last week. With an openers spot up for grabs in one day cricket this is an ideal opportunity for Denly to show he has the temperament and ability to handle international cricket and in doing so stake a claim on an opening test spot with Alastair Cook always seeming to struggle these days.

Also returning at the top of the order will be Ravi Bopara. After been dropped he went back to Essex and scored a double hundred - just what the selectors would have wanted him to do. He then followed that up with a duck in Belfast, though the real issue is how he comes back against the Aussies. Although this is not test cricket it is a welcome chance for Bopara to prove to the selectors that he has plenty of character and can bounce back from his disappointing Ashes series.

Owais Shah, Eoin Morgan Luke Wright, Adil Rashid, Tim Bresnan and Ryan Sidebottom all come into contention for places, while behind the stumps England have opted to stick with Matt Prior after his impressive performances in the Ashes rather than reverting back to James Foster who did a decent job with the gloves (not bat) during the recent World Twenty20.



Australia are without the services of captain Ricky Ponting - who along with the test specialists - flew back to Australia last week for a rest, Michael Clarke will captain the side in his absence.

They also are expected to play Dirk Nannes who has already defeated England in a T20 international when he played for Netherlands in their World T20 victory over England at the start of the summer. Such was the quality of Nannes' performances during that tournament that the Australian selectors decided to call him up for the country of his birth.

T20 specialist David Warner comes back in as well as David Hussey who after been omitted from the 50 over squad (for England series) scored a hundred in the warm up match against Scotland last week, no doubt he will be further looking to prove his point to the selectors in these two T20 matches. Further one day specialists Nathan Bracken, Cameron White and Adam Voges also join up with the Aussie squad.

Behind the stumps Tim Paine fills in for the injured Brad Haddin who also returned home during the week. In the bowling department Brett Lee will be hoping to finally have a go at England's batsmen after a frustrating tour to date, while Nathan Hauritz will also be hoping for a recall.


Match Betting

Neither of these two sides have exactly excelled at Twenty20 with Australia not even getting past the group stages of the World T20, England didn't manage much better themselves losing to West Indies in the last 8. With both sides still finding their way in this form of cricket it is a tough call betting wise with Australia just edging favouritsm at a best price of 4/5. With rain in the air Duckworth Lewis could come into play so winning the toss could be a massive advantage.

Australia are 4/5 with 888Sport and Blue Square
England are 11/10 with Sportingbet and Totesport

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 - Top Run Scorers

Top Run Scorers in ICC Champions Trophy 2009 - Final Standings - 05/10/09

288 - Ricky Ponting, AUS
265 - Shane Watson, AUS
206 - Graeme Smith, SA
202 - Paul Collingwood, ENG
200 - Mohammad Yousuf, PAK
191 - Martin Guptill, NZ
180 - Shoaib Malik, PAK
163 - Mahela Jayawardene, SL
155 - Brendon McCullum, NZ
149 - Tillakaratne Dilshan, SL
148 - Mike Hussey, AUS
147 - Eoin Morgan, ENG
145 - Owais Shah, ENG
130 - AB de Villiers, SA
126 - Grant Elliott, NZ
123 - Tim Paine, AUS
121 - Ross Taylor, NZ
106 - Cameron White, AUS
100 - Daniel Vettori, NZ
98 - Umar Akmal, PAK
95 - Virat Kohli, IND
92 - Kamran Akmal, PAK
89 - Jacques Kallis, SA
84 - Thilan Samaraweera, SL
82 - Mitchell Johnson, AUS
82 - Jesse Ryder, NZ
80 - Tim Bresnan, ENG
80 - Rahul Dravid, IND
75 - Nuwan Kulasekara, SL
73 - Neil Broom, NZ
72 - Nikita Miller, WI
70 - Thilina Kandamby, SL
69 - Travis Dowlin, WI
69 - Angelo Mathews, SL
68 - Darren Sammy, WI
67 - Joe Denly, ENG
66 - Kumar Sangakkara, SL
65 - Albie Morkel, SA
63 - Gautam Gambhir, IND
63 - James Franklin, NZ
62 - Mark Boucher, SA
61 - Andre Fletcher, WI
60 - Luke Wright, ENG

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 - Top Wicket Takers

Top Wicket Takers in ICC Champions Trophy 2009 - Final Standings, 05/10/09

11 - Wayne Parnell, SA
10 - Stuart Broad, ENG
9 - Kyle Mills, NZ
8 - Saeed Ajmal, PAK
8 - Ashish Nehra, IND
7 - Daniel Vettori, NZ
7 - James Anderson, ENG
6 - Mohammad Aamer, PAK
6 - Dale Steyn, SA
6 - Peter Siddle, AUS
6 - Shane Watson, AUS
6 - Brett Lee, AUS
6 - Shane Bond, NZ
5 - Nathan Hauritz, AUS
5 - Gavin Tonge, WI
5 - Ian Butler, NZ
5 - Shahid Afridi, PAK
5 - Umar Gul, PAK
4 - Grant Elliott, NZ
4 - Daryl Tuffey, NZ
4 - Angelo Mathews, SL
4 - Naved-ul-Hasan, PAK
4 - Lasith Malinga, SL
4 - Mitchell Johnson, AUS
3 - Sanath Jayasuriya, SL
3 - Praveen Kumar, IND
3 - Ishant Sharma, IND
3 - Kemar Roach, WI
3 - David Bernard, WI
3 - Ajantha Mendis, SL
3 - Nuwan Kulasekara, SL
3 - Harbhajan Singh, IND
3 - Johan Botha, SA
3 - Graham Onions, ENG

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 - Betting

ICC Champions Trophy Betting - Best odds gathered from 14 major online bookmakers. Updated after Semi-Finals, 04/10/09


Outright Winner Betting

Australia are 4/9 with Stan James, Bet365 and William Hill
New Zealand are 2/1 with Totesport


Top Batsman Betting

Ricky Ponting looks to have this sown up, he is 127 runs clear of his closest rival, Shane Watson with two Kiwi's, Brendon McCullum (132 behind) and Martin Guptill (136 behind) the next closest. Ponting is virtually unbackable at a best price of 1/100 with Betfair.


Top Bowler Betting

Wayne Parnell is 1/16 with Bet365, followed by Daniel Vettori who is 9/1 with William Hill. Shane Watson and Kyle Mills are both 50/1 with Bet365.

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 - Squads

2009 ICC Champions Trophy Squads

Group A

Australia - Ricky Ponting (C), Nathan Bracken, Michael Clarke, Callum Ferguson, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Tim Paine (WK), Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

India - MS Dhoni (C & WK), Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Abhishek Nayar

Pakistan - Younus Khan (C), Imran Nazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal (WK), Umar Gul, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Rao Iftikhar, Saeed Ajmal

West Indies - Floyd Reifer (C), David Bernard, Tino Best, Royston Crandon, Travis Dowlin, Andre Fletcher, Kevin McClean, Nikita Miller, Kieran Powell, Dale Richards, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Devon Smith, Gavin Tonge, Chadwick Walton (WK).



Group B

England - Andrew Strauss (C), James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Joe Denly, Eoin Morgan, Graham Onions, Matt Prior (WK), Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright

New Zealand - Daniel Vettori (C), Shane Bond, Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Brendon Diamanti, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Gareth Hopkins (WK), Brendon McCullum (WK), Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey

South Africa - Graeme Smith (C), Johan Botha, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher (WK), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe

Sri Lanka - Kumar Sangakkara (C & WK), Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews, Chamara Kapugedera, Thilina Kandamby, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dammika Prasad, Lasith Malinga

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 - Results

Results

Group B: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Centurion - Sep 22nd
Sri Lanka 319/8 (50 ov): South Africa 206/7 (37.4/37.4 ov)

Sri Lanka won by 55 runs (D/L Method)


Group A: Pakistan v West Indies at Johannesburg - Sep 23rd
West Indies 133 (34.3 ov): Pakistan 134/5 (30.3 ov)

Pakistan won by 5 wickets


Group B: South Africa v New Zealand at Centurion - Sep 24th
New Zealand 214 (47.5 ov): South Africa 217/5 (41.1 ov)

South Africa won by 5 wickets


Group B: England v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg - Sep 25th
Sri Lanka 212 (47.3 ov): England 213/4 (45 ov)

England won by 6 wickets


Group A: Australia v West Indies at Johannesburg - Sep 26th
Australia 275/8 (50 ov): West Indies 225 (46.5 ov)

Australia won by 50 runs


Group A: India v Pakistan at Centurion - Sep 26th
Pakistan 302/9 (50 ov): India 248 (44.5 ov)

Pakistan won by 54 runs


Group B: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg - Sep 27th
New Zealand 315/7 (50 ov): Sri Lanka 277 (46.4 ov)

New Zealand won by 38 runs


Group B: South Africa v England at Centurion - Sep 27th
England 323/8 (50 ov): South Africa 301/9 (50 ov)

England won by 22 runs


Group A: Australia v India at Centurion - Sep 28th
Australia 234/4 (42.3 ov)

Match abandoned as a draw, 1 point each

Group B: England v New Zealand at Johannesburg - Sep 29th
England 146 (43.1 ov): New Zealand 147/6 (27.1 ov)

New Zealand won by 4 wickets

Group A: Australia v Pakistan at Centurion - Sep 30th
Pakistan 205/6 (50 ov): Australia 206/8 (50 ov)

Australia won by 2 wickets


Group A: India v West Indies at Johannesburg - Sep 30th
West Indies 129 (36 ov): India 130/3 (32.1 ov)

India won by 7 wickets



Semi-Final Fixtures

1st Semi-Final: Australia V England at Centurion - Oct 2nd
England 257 (47.4 ov): Australia 258/1 (41.5 ov)

Australia won by 9 wickets

2nd Semi-Final: New Zealand V Pakistan at Johannesburg - Oct 3rd
Pakistan 233/9 (50 ov): New Zealand 234/5 (47.5 ov)

New Zealand won by 5 wickets


Final at Centurion - Oct 5th
New Zealand 200/9 (50 ov): Australia 206/4 (45.2 ov)

Australia won by 6 wickets

Difficult decisions for selectors

After Sunday's success at The Oval the selectors would appear to have some difficult decisions to make as to the future line up and balance of the England test team. The upcoming tour of South Africa will be the a far more testing prospect for England than the recently won Ashes series against a struggling Australian team going through a period of transformation.

Firstly, the selectors should be applauded for refusing to be swayed by all pundits (mainly newspaper journalists) calling for panic stations to be manned with recalls for the likes of Mark Ramprakash, Marcus Trescothick, Geoff Boycott and the great man himself WG Grace.

All the same England's batting must surely by now need looking at? Out of all the batsmen used this summer only Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen can justify their places on form alone, obviously Jonathon Trott has staked a strong claim for a place and must be rewarded for his performance with a run in the side as well.

Also with Andrew Fintoff retiring the selctors need to address the balance of the side. Do they go with 4 or 5 bowlers? Do they really want to promote Stuart Broad up the order to No.7? Heaping more pressure on his shoulders with the inevitable comparisons to Flintoff already doing a good job of that.

Is Matt Prior a good enough batsman to play at No.6 long term? If yes he would address the problem of balancing the team, but then you have Broad in at No.7. Prior seems to have coped ok with the responsability so far. But is he really a good enough No.6? These are questions the selectors have to answer.

In the batting department Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara pose problems for the selectors, they have decisions to make as to the best way forward for England's struggling batsmen. Lets be honest over the last couple of years to say that some of them have looked like rabbits in headlights at times would be an understatement, and all have a lot of test experience except Bopara.

An England batsman doing well these days appears to be a player who scores 60 or 70 when his position is in doubt and consistently just does enough to keep his place in the side, not a player who excels.

All have been indifferent of late and although Geoff Miller will defend them with quotes along the line of they are all quality players with quality records and point to a hundred scored here and a hundred scored there over the years, all followers of England cricket know that they all struggle when it comes to playing against the likes of India, South Africa, Sri Lanka(mainly away) and Australia. If you get picked often enough you will come off successfully at some time or another.

With Joe Denly being picked for the One Day series against Australia maybe this is the selectors way of having a closer look at him performing under pressure with a view to going to South Africa. With a record of just three hundreds since December 2007 (and two of them were against West Indies) Alastair Cook's position as opener must by now be a position of concern.

The No.3 batting position has also been a problem for England since - or even before - Michael Vaughan was left out after standing down as captain last year, with Bell, Shah and Bopara all having failed miserably there. Maybe a stint there for Alastair Cook would do him some good?

Failing that is it not time someone in the England management had the balls to tell Kevin Pietersen that it's time for him to step up the plate and take the responsibility on. As by far England's number one batsman it is a position that he should have been occupying for some time now in my opinion. That would in turn open up the middle order for the the stroke playing likes of Bopara, Bell and Trott, with Bell and Bopara in particular getting away from No.3 should ease some pressure off them and maybe allow them to perform as we know/think they can.

Paul Collingwood is another problem that needs addressing. For the second summer in a row, with no form to speak off he didn't bother himself to go back and play for Durham between tests in an attempt to find some sort of form. I find this totally staggering, his influence around the management seems to have grown to such an extent that he seems to have put himself above reproach.

If England do decide to play six batsmen lets hope it is not just to accomodate the selectors not having to make difficult decisions with deciding on players futures. If they haven't got the guts to drop Paul Collingwood or move Kevin Pietersen up the order they shouldn't be in the job.

Consistency under pressure is a good asset to have, but lets not get it confused with blind loyalty.

England V Australia - 2009 Test Series

ENGLAND WON SERIES 2-1 AND REGAIN ASHES (5 match series)

1st Test, 11am Wed Jul 8 - Sun Jul 12, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
England 435 & 252/9: Australia 674/6 dec

Match Drawn


2nd Test, 11am Thu Jul 16 - Mon Jul 20, Lord's, London
England 425 & 311/6 dec: Australia 215 & 406

England won by 115 runs


3rd Test, 11am Thu Jul 30 - Mon Aug 3, Edgbaston, Birmingham
Australia 263 & 375/5: England 376

Match Drawn


4th Test, 11am Fri Aug 7 - Tue Aug 11, Headingley, Leeds
England 102 & 263: Australia 445

Australia won by an innings and 80 runs


5th Test, 11am Thu Aug 20 - Mon Aug 24, The Oval, London
England 332 & 373/9 dec: Australia 160 and 348

England won by 197 runs

Ashes Batting and Bowling Averages

2009 Ashes batting and bowling averages

England Batting Averages

Jonathan Trott - 80.00
Andrew Strauss - 52.66
Kevin Pietersen - 38.25
Graeme Swann - 35.57
Andrew Flintoff - 33.33
Matt Prior - 32.62
Steve Harmison - 31.00
Stuart Broad - 29.25
Ian Bell - 28.00
Paul Collingwood - 27.77
Alastair Cook - 24.66
James Anderson - 16.50
Ravi Bopara - 15.00
Monty Panesar - 11.00
Graham Onions - 9.50


Australia Batting Averages

Michael Clarke - 64.00
Marcus North - 52.42
Ricky Ponting - 48.12
Shane Watson - 48.00
Brad Haddin - 46.33
Simon Katich - 42.62
Mike Hussey - 34.50
Nathan Hauritz - 22.50
Graham Manou - 21.00
Ben Hilfenhaus - 20.00
Phil Hughes - 19.00
Peter Siddle - 18.20
Mitchell Johnson - 17.50
Stuart Clark - 12.66


England Bowling Averages

Stuart Broad - 30.22
Graham Onions - 30.30
Steve Harmison - 33.40
Graeme Swann - 40.50
James Anderson - 45.16
Andrew Flintoff - 52.12
Paul Collingwood - 76.00
Monty Panesar - 115.00


Australia Bowling Averages

Ben Hilfenhaus - 27.45
Peter Siddle - 30.80
Nathan Hauritz - 32.10
Mitchell Johnson - 32.55
Stuart Clark - 44.00
Marcus North - 51.00
Michael Clarke - 75.00

Ashes Top Wicket Takers - 2009 Series

Ashes Top Wicket Takers

Ben Hilfenhaus capped an excellent series in which he was the only Aussie bowler to be consistant throughout the 5 tests by being the Ashes top wicket taker with 22 English victims. Hilfenhaus always looked dangerous with his outswinger and seemed to adapt best to bowling in English conditions. After a sticky first 3 tests Stuart Broad emerged as the top English bowler after there were calls for him to be dropped at Headingley and The Oval.

22 - Ben Hilfenhaus, AUS
20 - Peter Siddle, AUS
20 - Mitchell Johnson, AUS
18 - Stuart Broad, ENG
14 - Graham Swann, ENG
12 - James Anderson, ENG
10 - Graham Onions, ENG
10 - Nathan Hauritz, AUS



8 - Andrew Flintoff, ENG
5 - Steve Harmison, ENG
4 - Stuart Clark, AUS
4 - Marcus North, AUS
1 - Michael Clarke, AUS
1 - Paul Collingwood, ENG
1 - Monty Panesar, ENG

Ashes Top Run Scorers - 2009 Series

At the end of the 2009 Ashes series Andrew Strauss has finished the leading run scorer for the whole series. Strauss is the only English batsman in the top seven run scorers in a series were England's batsmen underperformed.

Ashes Top Run Scorers

474 - Andrew Strauss, ENG
448 - Michael Clarke, AUS
385 - Ricky Ponting, AUS
367 - Marcus North, AUS
341 - Simon Katich, AUS
278 - Brad Haddin, AUS
276 - Mike Hussey, AUS
261 - Matt Prior, ENG
250 - Paul Collingwood, ENG
249 - Graeme Swann, ENG
240 - Shane Watson, AUS
234 - Stuart Broad, ENG
222 - Alastair Cook, ENG
200 - Andrew Flintoff, ENG



160 - Jonathon Trott, ENG
153 - Kevin Pietersen, ENG
140 - Ian Bell, ENG
105 - Mitchell Johnson, AUS
105 - Ravi Bopara, ENG
99 - James Anderson, ENG
91 - Peter Siddle, AUS
57 - Phil Hughes, AUS
45 - Nathan Hauritz, AUS
40 - Ben Hilfenhaus, AUS
38 - Stuart Clark, AUS
31 - Steve Harmison, ENG
21 - Graham Manou, AUS
19 - Graham Onions, ENG
11 - Monty Panesar, ENG

ICC One Day International Rankings

ICC ODI Rankings - Updated 05/10/09 After Champions Trophy


128 Rating - Austalia ----- 4234 Points (33 Matches)
124 Rating - India --------- 3852 Points (31 Matches)
121 Rating - South Africa - 2550 Points (21 Matches)
110 Rating - New Zealand- 2410 Points (22 Matches)
109 Rating - Pakistan ------ 2735 Points (25 Matches)
106 Rating - England ------- 3193 Points (30 Matches)
106 Rating - Sri Lanka ---- 3298 Points (31 Matches)
76 Rating -- West Indies - 1589 Points (21 Mathces)
55 Rating -- Bangladesh - 1257 Points (23 Matches)
26 Rating -- Zimbabwe --- 513 Points (20 Matches)
25 Rating -- Ireland ------- 152 Points (6 Matches)
0 Rating --- Kenya -------- 0 Points (9 Matches)

ICC Test Match Rankings

ICC Test Rankings - Updated 30/08/09

122 Rating - South Africa - 3672 Points (30 Matches)
120 Rating - Sri Lanka ---- 3248 Points (27 Matches)
119 Rating - India -------- 3327 Points (28 Matches)
116 Rating - Australia ---- 3600 Points (31 Matches)
105 Rating - England ----- 4102 Points (39 Matches)
84 Rating -- Pakistan ----- 1424 Points (17 Matches)
80 Rating -- New Zealand - 2001 Points (25 Matches)
76 Rating -- West Indies -- 1910 Points (25 Matches)
13 Rating -- Bangladesh --- 255 Points (19 Matches)


South Africa have replaced Australia at the top of the ICC World Test Rankings after the Aussies lost the Ashes series 2-1 to England. It is the 1st time since the ICC started the World Rankings that Australia are not the top ranked side. In losing the final test at The Oval, Australia not only lost top spot but plunged down to No.4, England retain their place as the No.5 ranked side in the World.

ICC Test Rankings - 23/08/2009

After defeat in the Ashes series Australia have slipped off the top of the ICC Test Rankings for the first time since the ranking system began in 2003, taking a massive drop from 1st down to 4th place. South Africa now take their rightful place at the top to go with their No.1 ODI World ranking making them the current standout side in World cricket.

ICC Test Rankings

1. South Africa - 122
2. Sri Lanka - 119
3. India - 119
4. Australia - 116
5. England - 105
6. Pakistan - 84
7. New Zealand - 82
8. West Indies - 76
9. Bangladesh - 13

New Zealand Test squad for tour of Sri Lanka

Daniel Vettori - Captain, slow left arm bowler
Craig Cumming - Right handed opening batsman
Grant Elliott - All rounder
Daniel Flynn - Left handed batsman
Martin Guptill - Right handed opening batsman
Brendon McCullum - Wicketkeeper batsman
Tim McIntosh - Left handed opening batsman
Chris Martin - Right arm fast medium bowler
Iain O'Brien - Right arm fast medium bowler
Jacob Oram - All rounder
Jeetan Patel - Slow right arm bowler
Jesse Ryder - Left handed batsman
Ross Taylor - Right handed batsman
Daryl Tuffey - Right arm fast medium bowler
Reece Young - Reserve wicketkeeper

Sri Lanka V New Zealand - 2009 Test Series

SRI LANKA WON SERIES 2-0 (2 match series)

1st Test - Galle International Stadium, 18-22 Aug, 2009
Sri Lanka 452 & 259/4 dec: New Zealand 299 & 210

Sri Lanka won by 202 runs



2nd Test - Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, 26-30 Aug, 2009
Sri Lanka 416 & 311/5dec: New Zealand 234 & 397

Sri Lanka won by 96 runs

England V Australia - 5th Test, Day 3 Betting Preview

Close of play - England 332 (Bell 72) & 58/3: Australia 160 (Broad 5/37)
England lead by 230 runs with 7 wickets remaining.

Stuart Broad produced a spell of bowling after lunch which has blown the whole Ashes series wide open. With Australia on 73/0 and looking in total control Broad turned the match on its head with an inspired spell of bowling which seen him finish with figures of 5/37 from 12 overs.

Australia wasted little time in the morning moping up the last 2 English wickets for 25 more runs, including a duck for James Anderson at last. Openers Shane Watson and Simon Katich were then given a tough examination with the new ball from Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson, with Flintoff virtually unplayable during his opening spell and unlucky not to pick up the wicket of Watson whom he seemed to have plumb leg before.

The Aussies openers whethered that particular storm before the rain came on the stroke of lunch leaving them at 61/0. When played resumed after an extended lunch Strauss gave Broad his first bowl of the innings and he responded in spectacular fashion with the wicket of Watson with the last ball of his 1st over.

After Broad removed Ponting in his 3rd over that seemed to spark the collapse with Australia's batsmen seeming to get the jitters - England style - and batting seemed to become almost impossible for them with probably doubts about the pitch and the pressure of the situation getting to them resulting in a constant stream of batters heading back to the pavillion in a fashion not seen since? oh yes, England at Headingley!



Next to go to Broad was the uncertain Hussey - leg before - who has had a series to forget, he then got Michael Clarke who was brilliantly caught by Trott playing a shot through cover before Swann got in on the act with the wicket of Marcus North - who to fair was given out to a stinker, lbw after a massive inside edge.

Swann then removed Katich to a bat pad catch before Broad completed his 5 wicket haul getting Brad Haddin with an unplayable inswinging yorker, arguably the ball of the day. Graeme Swann then finished off the tail with two more wickets - including another shocker for Stuart Clark, this time given out caught bat pad when the ball was a good 6 inches away from his bat - and Andrew Flintoff got last man Hilfenhaus leaving Australia all out for just 160.

Australia being the team they are refuse to be beaten easily though, and England being the team they are will also attempt to throw this away yet. That is exactly what happened when England came out to bat with Australia picking up the wickets of Cook, Bell and Collingwood cheaply throwing themselves a massive lifeline.

The Aussies will still believe that if they can clean up the rest of England's batting fairly cheaply on Saturday morning that they are still in this match. At the moment England's lead is 230 and although it should still be hard to chase Australia would surely take a target of 300 now. With England's batsmen already giving away cheap 2nd innings wickets they may well not be out of this game just yet.

An exciting 3rd day is in prospect.



3rd Day Betting

England are favourites at 3/10 with Sportingbet
Australia are 7/2 with Paddy Power and Boylesports
The Draw is 33/1 with Ladbrokes

England V Australia - 5th Test, Day 2 Betting Preview

Close of play - England 307/8 (Bell, 72)

Australia will feel the happier of the two teams at the end of day 1 of this deciding test match from The Oval. England won the toss and as expected opted to bat in a match they have to win to regain the Ashes. Just how good a score England have can again only be gauged after both sides have batted, it should be a fascinating contest between the England attack and the Aussie batsmen on day 2.

England didn't get off to the greatest of starts with Alastair Cook hanging his bat out playing a what is becoming an all too familiar nothing shot to give away his wicket for just 10. After that Andrew Strauss and the much maligned Ian Bell set about the job in hand taking England to 108/1 at lunch with a good battling display against some hostile and well directed bowling - Bell in particular got through a good working over from the Aussie bowlers.

After lunch Strauss made his first error of the day and it was a costly one giving an easy catch to Haddin off the bowling of Ben Hilfenhaus. The Aussies then sensed blood with just Paul Collingwood and debutant Jonathan Trott to come as recognised batsmen, Collingwood though settled down and kept Bell company until he decided to chase a widish delivery from Peter Siddle giving Hussey a simple catch at gully - again it is not the first time Collingwood has got out in this fashion during this series. At tea England were 180/3 and still in a reasonable position.

Trott - who came out to bat to a very warm welcome from the Oval crowd - showed that he seems to have the temperament for test cricket with an assured performance making 41 before getting run out in style by a great piece of fielding from Simon Katich, before the wicket of Trott and at the start of the 3rd session Ian Bell was out for 72 playing on to a delivery from Siddle - one of Siddle's four victims of the day.



After that the Aussie bowlers reaped the reward for all their hard work and endurance during the day with another three wickets in the final session. Prior and Flintoff both chucked their wickets away going after wide deliveries and Graeme Swann was out for 18, a victim of the new ball.

After losing the toss Ricky Ponting will be very happy with his teams performance, although England again threw away half of their 8 wickets to fall with bad lazy shots the Aussie bowlers stuck to their task all day with little reward during the 1st two sessions. After tea they picked up 5 wickets and they will feel they deserved that reward for the days work overall.

The test has moved on at real pace with England losing 8 wickets, although England would have liked more runs on the board - they have come up well short yet again - the pitch showed signs of misbehaving and Marcus North got some kick and turn out of it with his spin bowling.

England will feel they are still well in this game but know they will need to bowl well after the inadequate performance of the batsmen. With the pitch already showing signs of wear a result is looking a strong possibility, it could simply come down to who holds their nerve the best.

5th Test Betting

Australia are 10/11 favourites with William Hill and Ladbrokes
England are 9/4 with VC Bet
The Draw is 4/1 with Sportingbet

5th Test Teams

England - Andrew Strauss(C), Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Jonathan Trott, Andrew Flintoff, Matt Prior(WK), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Steve Harmison, James Anderson.



Australia - Simon Katich, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting(C), Mike Hussey, Michael Clarke, Marcus North, Brad Haddin(WK), Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Stuart Clark, Ben Hilfenhaus.


England won the toss and elected to bat first.

Australia to retain/win Ashes - Betting

To retain the Ashes (not win them outright), Australia are 2/9 with Totesport, for England to win them outright they are 7/2 with Sky Bet.


To win Series Outright

Australia are 11/8 with Paddy Power
Drawn Series is 7/5 with Paddy Power
England are 7/2 with Sky Bet