Tag

England’s all-time leading wicket taker missed the fourth Test with a side strain suffered during his team’s eight-wicket win in the third Test at Edgbaston.

In his absence, England regained the Ashes – winning by an innings and 78 runs to take an unassailable 3-1 lead, with just The Oval to come.

Clarke resigned on Saturday although he will play in the final fifth and final Test match of the series after last week, saying he had no intention of doing so.

It was a point acknowledged by England national selector James Whitaker who said Sunday that Anderson, who has replaced uncapped left-arm seamer Mark Footitt in the squad, would not be rushed back into the side.

Steve Smith has described being named as the next Australia Test captain as an “honour and privilege” – and hopes to send incumbent Michael Clarke out on a high in his final appearance next week.

Australian coach Darren Lehmann has brushed off a devastating Ashes series loss with an outing to Britannia Stadium to watch Stoke City against Liverpool in the English Premier League.

By the final Test, he was dropped after a run of poor form – having from the outset been shunted down the list in favour of Michael Carberry.

England captain Alastair Cook shakes hands with Australian skipper Michael Clarke after the fourth Ashes Test match following England’s series clinching victory at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

He will play the final Test at The Oval on August 20 before the curtain comes down on a distinguished career.

The England team celebrates as Mark Wood bowls out Australia’s Nathan Lyon to wrap up the fourth Test and seize the Ashes series at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Saturday.

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell called for a complete rethink of Australia’s domestic cricket system after the team’s crushing defeat in the ongoing Ashes series in England.

And he praised the leadership of Cook this summer as England have thrashed Australia to secure an unassailable 3-1 lead in the Investec Ashes Series with one Test still to come.

“There’s going to be some tough times but the talent we have in the Australian sporting community is like no other”.

Members of the team have been incensed by stories written back home that depict their families as unnecessary distractions during the contest against England, and rejected outright the contention that they somehow brought on the team’s poor batting displays in the Edgbaston...

England named their 14-man squad for the fifth Test at The Oval with Jimmy Anderson replacing Mark Footitt as the only change. “He’s had a really tough 12-18 months, losing the captaincy of the one-dayers, but he’s really got his teeth into the Test captaincy”.