It has been announced this week that Traeger Park, Alice Springs, set against the backdrop of the iconic MacDonnell Ranges, is to host an Ashes tour match in November this year.

In 1989, Allan Border’s Australian side were labelled the worst team ever to tour England yet later came away with a 4-0 series win, leaving the English media red-faced.

It seems bizarre to label Brian Lara’s remarkable career, that included the highest score in both Test cricket and First Class cricket, as an under achievement.

It seems bizarre to label Brian Lara’s remarkable career, that included the highest score in both Test cricket and First Class cricket, as an under achievement.

During that 2005 series, all rounder Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff was responsible for some of the most heartbreakingly frustrating (because he is English) yet horribly impressive (because he was) all round cricketing performances witnessed by this writer.

You don’t need a Pom who lived in Australia for 18 months to tell you that Australian cricketers are tough characters.

Readers have requested me to pick the best Australian Ashes team based on their performances in Australia and, sadly, no current cricketer makes it to my all-time great Australian team (based on statistical criteria in Ashes Tests in Australia).

The dust has settled from Australia's tough tour of India, and the beginning of the IPL has ensured the series has diminished from our mind.

You don’t realise how big the IPL is until you’re in India when the circus works its way across the country.

If we are to give the Poms a run for their money in the upcoming Ashes, we need to settle on a stable batting line-up.