Another enthralling five-match Ashes Test series awaits this summer and you can follow each and every moment on Sky Sports HD or catch up on the key moments with Channel 5’s primetime highlights.
England have won the previous two Anglo-Aussie duels – triumphing 2-1 on home soil in 2009 and 3-1 away in 2010/11 – and are the bookies’ favourites to end up with the sought-after urn at the end of the 67th Ashes series.
But the Baggy Greens are a wounded animal, having been humbled 4-0 in India in the spring and slipping to fourth in the Test match rankings, a far cry from the lofty position of first that they held in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Every four years cricket’s greatest rivalry comes to the fore and the ebb and flow of five Ashes Test matches between England and Australia shape the summer for sports fans young and old.
The 2013 series between England and Australia will kick off a run of 15 Ashes Tests within a two-year period, starting on July 10.
Later in the series, the third match will see Test cricket return to Old Trafford for the first time since 2010, while the series will conclude at the traditional venue of the The Oval.
The first Test swings into life at Trent Bridge on July 10 and both sides need only look to recent Ashes history to know that the opening match is the most crucial step in the battle for the precious urn.
In the 2010/11 series opener Down Under, England showed their mettle early.
After being bowled out in the first innings for 260 and failing to restrict the Australian batsmen, they came out to bat for the
second time under immense pressure.
Centuries from Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott and a double tonne from Alastair Cook took the heat and belief out of the Aussie bowling attack and although the game ended in a draw, the psychological damage was done and it set up England’s 3-1 series win.
Then in 2009 the first clash was a nail-biting thriller at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens.
England looked beaten trying to bat out a draw on the final day but last-ditch, nail-biting defending from unlikely batting heroes James Anderson and Monty Panesar secured the draw and set up another series win.
And who could forget the first ball of the much hyped 2006/07 series?
Australia were determined to take revenge for their 2005 Ashes loss in England and ramped up the pressure ahead of the start of the first game.
A clearly nervous Steve Harmison ran in at a packed Gabba in Brisbane and delivered the very first ball of the match to a startled Freddie Flintoff at second slip.
England were soundly beaten and humiliated 5-0 in the series.
Alastair Cook’s team start this Ashes series as heavy favourites, with the Aussies dogged by inconsistent form and controversy
However form is often a lousy guide when these two teams clash and both will be primed to take first blood on a Nottingham pitch that rarely serves up a dull contest.
Australia’s preparations have not exactly gone to plan with the decision to sack Mickey Arthur and bring in Darren Lehmann as coach coming 16 days before the start of the series.
Lehmann is tasked with bringing some order to a squad that has been troubled by disciplinary issues in recent times.
Four players including Shane Watson were banned for a Test during the tour of India for failing to complete a ‘homework’ assignment, while David Warner was suspended for the pre-Ashes warm-up matches after throwing a punch at England batsman Joe Root in a Birmingham pub during the Champions Trophy.
England start as prohibitive favourites with the bookmakers after winning in India last winter, comfortably seeing off New Zealand earlier this summer and reaching the final of the Champions Trophy.
The return to fitness of Kevin Pietersen after a knee injury is a further boost and prompted a reshuffle in the batting order with Joe Root moving up to open with skipper Alastair Cook and Nick Compton dropping out.
Regardless of the outcome of this summer’s series, an memorable three months of international cricket lie in store and you can follow all the action on TV and radio.
Sky Sports has exclusive live coverage, free-to-air highlights will be shown on Channel 5, and ball-by-ball commentary will be available on BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra and Radio 4 Long Wave.
SOTB’s Ashes viewing guide below:
INVESTEC ASHES SERIES
1st Test: Trent Bridge, July 10-14
2nd Test: Lord’s, July 18-22
3rd Test: Old Trafford, August 1-5
4th Test: Chester-le-Street, August 9-13
5th Test: The Oval, August 21-25
NatWest T20 International Series
1st T20: Ageas Bowl, August 29 (D/N)
2nd T20: Chester-le-Street, August 31
NatWest Series
1st ODI: Headingley, September 3
2nd ODI: Old Trafford, September 6
3rd ODI: Edgbaston, September 11 (D/N)
4th ODI: Cardiff, September 14
5th ODI: Ageas Bowl, September 16 (D/N)
Sky Sports HD will bring cricket fans live and exclusive coverage of each and every one of this summer’s much-anticipated Ashes contests.
To mark this extraordinary summer of Ashes cricket, Sky Sports 2 has been transformed into Sky Sports Ashes, meaning an entire channel is dedicated to showing all of Sky’s vast cricket coverage, including men’s, women’s and youth matches from June 30 to August 31.
All five days from each five tests will be exclusively live on Sky Sports Ashes and in high-definition on Sky Sports Ashes HD, with live coverage starting a full hour before the start of play at 10.00am each day (play scheduled to start at 11.00am), running through to at least 7.00pm.
This totals up to a potential of more than 220 hours of live coverage during the test series, plus all five ODIs and two-T20 Internationals will also be shown exclusively live on Sky Sports.
Former England captain David Gower will lead Sky Sports’ live Ashes coverage throughout the summer and he will be joined by some of the biggest names in cricket to describe the action.
Alongside him in the commentary box will be Sky Sports regulars Sir Ian Botham, Michael Atherton, David Lloyd, Nasser Hussain and Michael Holding.
Australia’s legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne rejoins the Sky team for the summer, while the network has also added the services of Ashes-winning England captain Andrew Strauss to its commentary team.
All eight will detail the goings-on at Trent Bridge, Lord’s, Old Trafford, Emirates Durham ICG and the Oval and give their assessment of the play and players.
Strauss, who retired from cricket in August 2012, will link-up with Sky Sports for the summer Investec Ashes series, beginning in July, and the winter tour to Australia, which starts in November.
The 36-year-old – who guided England to two Ashes series victories, including his country’s first triumph in Australia in 24 years – will become the fifth former England captain to be part of Sky’s live Ashes coverage along with Gower, Botham, Atherton and Hussain.
Strauss, who scored 7,037 runs and 21 centuries in his 100 Tests for England, said: “I am delighted to be joining the Sky Sports team for the Ashes.
“I can’t wait to watch and commentate on what promises to be two exciting contests. I look forward to joining the guys in the summer and sharing my thoughts with the viewers.”
Paul King, Executive Producer of Cricket for Sky Sports, added: “As a three time Ashes winner, twice as captain, Andrew will provide fascinating insight into both teams.
“I’m sure our viewers will enjoy what he has to say and his commentary and analysis will strengthen our coverage even further.”
During live play, viewers can press the red button to enhance their viewing experience with live scorecard, match stats, highlights, interviews and features.
In addition to the live action, Sky Sports will also show extended evening highlights and analysis each night during the series, presented by Charles Colville and Bob Willis, plus a variety of special guests.
Sky Sports’ live Ashes coverage is available on TV, PC and on the move via mobile and tablet devices thanks to Sky Go, while Sky Sports News HD provides daily cricket reports, views and analysis.
Online, a new-look skysports.com, the UK’s leading commercial sports website, provides live cricket scores, interviews, news, statistics and videos, as well as blogs from Sky’s expert punditry team.
A new innovation for this summer’s series is the Sky Sports Ashes Event Centre (see video above).
Sky’s first-ever second screen experience for cricket allows you to watch live coverage on your ipad or mobile and features an integrated timeline of session-by-session highlights, in-running match stats and interactive Hawkeye analysis.
Non Sky TV customers can also watch the Ashes live via NOW TV through its 24 hour Sky Sports Day Pass (available for £9.99 per day).
Sky Sports will have every Ashes angle covered this summer – and the same will apply this winter when England and Australia do it all again Down Under.
England legend and Sky Sports commentator Sir Ian Botham said: “The Ashes is the pinnacle of Test cricket and cricket fans have never had it so good. Bring it on.”
Tune in to Sky Sports Ashes HD and join the expert commentary team for this latest chapter of Ashes history.
Channel 5 will be the only place to watch free-to-air highlights of the 2013 Investec Ashes Series this summer.
This will be the second home Ashes series covered by the broadcaster since it took over the terrestrial rights to England’s summer international matches in 2006.
Mark Nicholas returns to present all the key action from each day’s play during the series on Channel 5 and in high-definition on Channel 5 HD.
He will be joined for commentary and analysis by England’s Ashes-winning ex-captain Michael Vaughan, the forthright former Yorkshire and England batsman Geoffrey Boycott and the former Middlesex bowler Simon Hughes.
Former Australian batsman Damien Martyn will also be part of the Channel 5 commentary team for the summer.
Each one-hour highlights show during the Ashes test series, as well as the one-dayers and T20 internationals, will be shown in a prime-time slot every night at 7.00pm, giving fans the chance to see all the essential action and key moments from every day’s play shortly after its conclusion.
For day-night games during the one-day/T20 series, highlights will be shown at 12midnight.
Fans can catch-up on all of key action during this highly-anticipated series by watching each Cricket on 5 episode via Demand 5, available on online or on tablet devices via the Demand 5 app.
In addition, Channel 5’s cricket website will have more background on this summer’s action, including additional interviews, features and blogs, plus links to Channel 5’s highlights shows.
Speaking ahead of its coverage of the Ashes series, Ian Dunkley, Channel 5’s commissioning editor said: “We delighted to confirm that England’s Cricket Internationals will once again be available for viewers to enjoy, free of charge this summer ahead.
“We have kept together our fantastic presenting team, led by Mark Nicholas, who will entertain viewers with their cricketing knowledge and insightful, if somewhat combative, performance analysis – and we are committed to capturing the very best of the action for everyone to enjoy.”
Channel 5’s coverage of the Ashes will be produced by the highly-experienced sports production firm Sunset+Vine, who have been responsible for all free-to-air English cricket coverage since 1999.
BBC Radio will bring cricket fans every single moment from the Ashes with exclusive live ball-by-ball radio commentary from Test Match Special on BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra and Radio 4 Long Wave.
TMS, now in its 57th year, is world famous for its expert and comprehensive radio commentary offering, and will go out on 5 live sports extra throughout the series, starting at the opening day of the first test at Trent Bridge from 10.25am on Wednesday, July 10.
Starting 30 minutes before the start of action each day, the team will be bringing extra build-up and analysis of the game so far.
The voice of TMS, Jonathan Agnew takes to the helm once again alongside commentators Henry Blofeld, Simon Mann and Ed Smith, and summarisers Michael Vaughan, Geoff Boycott, Phil Tufnell and Vic Marks, ensuring audiences don’t miss a moment of play.
Joining TMS for the first time at the Ashes in England this summer will be legendary Australia fast bowler, Glenn McGrath.
The first Australian fast bowler to play 100 Tests, McGrath returns to the Ashes this time from the more relaxed commentary position to give insight and analysis on the Aussie game.
Audiences can listen to Test Match Special from wherever they are and when they’re on the go.
In addition to listening via digital radio or online, BBC Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra are now available on mobile and tablet by downloading the BBC iPlayer Radio app for free. TMS is also available on Radio 4 Long Wave.
Combined with a raft of special programmes and top names on Radio 5 live for the summer, including Kevin Pietersen in conversation with Andrew Flintoff for Ashes Legends (2 July), Flintoff’s Ashes Roadshows, Greg James’ Not Just Cricket – The Ashes’ and 6-Duck-6 with Tuffers and Vaughan, plus extensive content on the BBC Sport website this makes for an exciting summer of cricket on the BBC.
July 10-14
ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA – 1st Investec Test
Trent Bridge | Play starts: 11:00
ENGLAND won by 14 runs
July 18-22
ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA – 2nd Investec Test
Lord’s | Play starts: 11:00 (Except Day 1: 11:15)
ENGLAND won by 347 runs
August 1-5
ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA – 3rd Investec Test
Old Trafford | Play starts: 11:00
MATCH DRAWN – ENGLAND retain the Ashes
August 9-13
ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA – 4th Investec Test
Chester-le-Street | Play starts: 11:00
ENGLAND won by 74 runs
August 21-25
ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA – 5th Investec Test
The Oval | Play starts: 11:00
LIVE SCORECARD
Day 1 (Wed) LIVE: 10.00am-7.00pm – Sky Sports Ashes
Day 1 (Wed) Highlights: 7.00pm-8.00pm – Channel 5
Day 2 (Thu) LIVE: 10.00am-7.00pm – Sky Sports Ashes
Day 2 (Thu) Highlights: 7.00pm-8.00pm – Channel 5
Day 3 (Fri) LIVE: 10.00am-7.00pm – Sky Sports Ashes
Day 3 (Fri) Highlights: 7.00pm-8.00pm – Channel 5
Day 4 (Sat) LIVE: 10.00am-7.00pm – Sky Sports Ashes
Day 4 (Sat) Highlights: 7.00pm-8.00pm – Channel 5
Day 5 (Sun) LIVE: 10.00am-6.00pm – Sky Sports Ashes
Day 5 (Sun) Highlights: 7.00pm-8.00pm – Channel 5
Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra – LISTEN LIVE
why england need 1 wicket to win on caption we can see the score ! all the time batsmans scores please ! thankyou