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2010/11 Ashes Series


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England crash to heavy Ashes loss

 

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Harris took four of the five wickets to fall on Sunday

 

England crash to heavy Ashes loss

 

Australia needed only 50 minutes on the fourth day to take England's last five wickets and wrap up a 267-run win in the third Ashes Test at the Waca.

 

The emphatic victory levels the five-match series at 1-1, with the contest moving to Melbourne on Boxing Day.

 

Ryan Harris finished with a Test-best 6-47 as England were all out for 123.

 

The tourists resumed at 81-5, seeking an unlikely 391 to win in Perth, but Harris took four of the last five wickets and England folded meekly.

 

Having produced some disappointing cricket on days two and three, and in a hopeless position overnight, there was little indication England had much appetite to force the game as far as lunch on Sunday. Australia had endured some sticky moments in a match they had to win. First they crashed to 69-5 on day one, then their eventual 268 looked certain to be surpassed when Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook put on 78 for the first wicket in England's reply.

 

But from the moment Cook was dismissed by Mitchell Johnson on Friday morning, Australia dominated affairs to an ominous degree - so much so that England began day four rated 50-1 no-hopers to pull off a shock victory.

 

Even those odds looked generous once Harris and Johnson - who each finished the match with nine wickets - began to work over an unusually tentative James Anderson.

 

In the fourth over of the morning, undecided whether to come forward or back, England's night-watchman was clean bowled by Harris. It began a depressing sequence: Ian Bell hit some typically pleasing shots before attempting to hit Harris across the line and missing.

 

As the ball thudded into his pads off a full length, he was obviously lbw to a delivery that would have knocked out middle stump - but England reviewed the decision in desperation as captain Strauss looked on ruefully from the dressing room balcony.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/9302392.stm

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Ashes: Ricky Ponting eyes Melbourne after finger injury

 

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Ponting must still answer issues over his batting form

 

Ashes: Ricky Ponting eyes Melbourne after finger injury

 

Injured Australia captain Ricky Ponting thanked his team-mates for a "great birthday present" - while targeting a swift return to Ashes action.

 

Ponting did not take the field on Sunday, his 36th birthday, after X-rays confirmed he had sustained a fracture in the little finger on his left hand.

 

But Australia emphatically beat an off-colour England on day four in Perth.

 

And Ponting said he had "a good chance" of taking the field for what is now a crucial Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

 

"As far as fingers go it's not a bad one to break," he added, after he injured the finger trying to take a slip catch late on day three. The Australians raced to their expected victory, taking the last five England wickets inside the first hour with Ryan Harris taking four of those scalps.

 

He took 6-47 and finished with nine in the match, though he was pipped to man-of-the-match honours by fellow paceman Mitchell Johnson. Ponting felt his team's 267-run win on his 36th birthday was one in the eye for critics who had felt the Australians had little to offer after going 1-0 down in Adelaide.

 

With the series level, question-marks remain over Ponting's batting form - but he was delighted with the overall team performance. "We've had plenty of doubters and we knew we had to turn things around quick. It is great for the boys to play the way they did. Now we have set new standards," he said.

 

Given that his predecessor Steve Waugh once scored an Ashes century after going into a Test at The Oval with a two-centimetre tear to a calf muscle, there will be little to stop Ponting playing at the MCG. "I erred on the side of caution but I was a bit sore. I can't afford to take a knock on it at this stage," he said after Michael Clarke had taken over as on-field captain. I need time to heal, but I think I'm a good chance to play in Melbourne. I haven't been game to grab a bat yet. I'll wait a couple of days before I do that."

 

Ponting felt Australia's 268 on day one, judged a modest total, was "probably the difference in the end", but he reserved his greatest praise for Johnson's stunning spell on Friday which forced a spectacular England collapse.

 

"That spell was probably one of the all-time greatest spells in Ashes history," said the contented skipper. Australia have already named an unchanged 12-man squad for Melbourne - with the 11 players on duty at Perth joined by uncapped left-arm spinner Michael Beer, who was left out of the side on the first morning.

 

If a stand-by player is required as cover for Ponting, his identity will be announced in due course.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/9302400.stm

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Bell focused on England victory

 

Ian Bell says where he bats for England is irrelevant as long as they win the fourth Ashes Test against Australia. In-form Bell has been tipped to move up the order to five for the crucial match in Melbourne which begins on Boxing Day, with Paul Collingwood struggling.

 

Bell said: "It's always nice to get moved up the order [but] I've had no discussions about it. But whether it happens or not is irrelevant for this series, as long as we're winning the next two Tests."

 

He added: "That's the most important thing to me, contributing to this team winning the Ashes."

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/9311506.stm

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