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News by Shane Dell 05/04/05
Australia has announced its squad to tour England for the forthcoming Ashes Test Match Series which kicks
off with the first Test at Lord’s between the two long time rivals on 21 July.
Undoubtedly the Australian Juggernaut are looking to cement their position as the greatest Test team of all time with a clear focus on burying England at home, as opposed to simply naming a squad that can mount a successful defence of the Ashes.
England fans believe this 2005 Series may be their best chance in the last 10 years or so to show the Australians up and take back the title of Ashes champions they first won in 1882-83 and have regualry coveted every series since with varying degrees of success. Their 1882-83 Series win may well have been disputed at the time, but none-the-less as the inaugural owners of the trophy often refered to as the Ashes Urn, which resides in the museum at Lord’s and has done since it’s presentation to England Captain Ivo Bligh in 1883, they believe the only righful owners of the Ashes champions title, are the England cricket team and fans.......just like the Australians also believe.
No doubt the English are on a high after several recent series wins against teams they have previously struggled to beat, but if they adopt any form of complacency and believe the Australians are just another opponent, they will quickly learn why EVERY team in world cricket is currently in awe of the Juggernaut that has destroyed all comers, both at home and abroad.
No-one disputes England has a better chance of competing this time around, but looking at it realistically, England are still probably 1-2 Series away from being serious competition for the Australians and it won’t be until the current crop of Aussie incumbents begin to retire that England may once again become the title holder of the Ashes. Let’s just hope the Poms put up a much better fight this time around than they did on the last outing in the Series downunder a couple of years ago.
Australian Ashes Touring Squad 2005
- Ricky Ponting (captain)
- Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain)
- Michael Clarke
- Jason Gillespie
- Brad Haddin
- Matthew Hayden
- Brad Hodge
- Justin Langer
- Michael Kasprowicz
- Simon Katich
- Brett Lee
- Stuart MacGill
- Damien Martyn
- Glenn McGrath
- Shaun Tait
- Shane Warne
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