The dust has barely settled on their summer defeat but Australia already have an opportunity for redemption as the winter Ashes series begins Down Under.
England have sprung several surprises in selecting their Ashes squad to tour Australia, but can they defend the urn for a third time in a row?
Sky Sports will be the only place for cricket fans to see the entire 2013/14 series live as England defend the prized urn.
Having comfortably clinched the spoils on home grounds over the summer with a 3-0 series win, England head Down Under with the first Test opening up in Brisbane on November 21.
There will be a host of fresh faces in the touring party with the likes of Gary Ballance, Michael Carberry, Boyd Rankin and Ben Stokes all entrusted with places having impressed sufficiently during various ODI and England Lions assignments.
Ballance’s inclusion is perhaps the biggest surprise in the England squad picked for the return series.
The 23-year-old Yorkshire star has made just one ODI appearance for England, but joins Hampshire’s Carberry in providing competition for the likes of Joe Root at the top of the order.
Bowling-wise, Graham Onions is overlooked in favour of seamers Stokes and Rankin, both of whom showed promise during the 2-1 ODI series defeat to the Australians in early September.
There are also recalls for spinner Monty Panesar, who has put off-field problems behind him and towering quick Chris Tremlett, who will return to the scenes of his greatest days as a Test cricketer following a nightmare year of injuries.
It is almost certain that Australia will provide much tougher opposition on their own soil.
With the scoreline of the summer series arguably flattering England slightly, the heat will be on when the first ball is bowled at The Gabba.
Michael Clarke’s team still seem in an embryonic phase of its development but they will be keener than ever to prove to England, their home support and maybe most importantly, themselves, that they have what it takes to turn the tables.
Clarke himself has seen the flip side of the coin having been part of the Australia side that snatched the Ashes back emphatically in the 2006-2007 series.
Having seen England lift the urn for the first time in 18 years the previous summer, pride was switfly restored to the Baggy Green in no uncertain terms as Andrew Flintoff’s tourists on the receiving end of a humiliating 5-0 whitewash.
Chances of a repeat of that famous six weeks for Australian cricket seem highly unlikely, but should Ryan Harris overcome his hamstring injury in time then England will be facing at least one seamer of genuine world class on pitches to which he is accustomed.
Other positives include the improvement of all-rounder Steve Smith, who was particularly impressive with the bat during an unbeaten 138 in the final Test at The Oval and the reemergence of Mitchell Johnson, who caught the eye in the ODI series when bowling with a degree of accuracy at more than 90 mph.
It’s a series not to be missed, and you can catch every ball of the 2013/14 Ashes exclusively live on Sky Sports or by listening to BBC Test Match Special on Radio 5 live Sports Extra and Radio 4 LW.
SOTB’s Ashes 2013/14 viewing guide below:
2013/14 ASHES SERIES
1st Test: Brisbane – November 21-25
2nd Test: Adelaide – December 5-9
3rd Test: Perth – December 13-17
4th Test: Melbourne – December 26-30
5th Test: Sydney – January 3-7
One-Day International Series
1st ODI: Melbourne – January 12
2nd ODI: Brisbane – January 17
3rd ODI: Sydney – January 19
4th ODI: Perth – January 24
5th ODI: Adelaide – January 26
T20 International Series
1st T20: Hobart – January 29 (D/N)
2nd T20: Melbourne – January 31 (D/N)
3rd T20: Sydney – February 2 (D/N)
Every ball, twist and turn of the winter Ashes series Down Under will be screened exclusively live on Sky Sports.
More than 250 hours of live coverage is set to be shown over the course of the five-match Test series, plus five one-day internationals and two-T20 internationals.
Sky Sports has a wealth of cricket experts on hand to guide fans through each day’s play.
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.
Andrew Strauss, who captained England to victory in their last Ashes series Down Under, is back alongside the likes of Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, Ian Botham, David Lloyd and Shane Warne.
Sky Sports will devote up to nine hours of live coverage of each day’s play during the Ashes series, starting one-hour before play begins, running through the night before concluding in the early morning.
With the majority of the action taking place during the night in the UK, Sky Sports will give cricket fans plenty of opportunities to catch up on all the action from Australia.
Following each day’s play, Rachel Brookes and guests present ‘Ashes Breakfast’, which will provide extended highlights and reaction, plus a look back at all the major stories and talking points.
There will be plenty of chances to see all the key moments throughout the day as Sky Sports will screen its one-hour highlights programme of each day’s play several times throughout the daytime and evening schedules.
All the best moments will also be available via the red button and on-demand for Sky Sports customers.
Every night during the series at 9.00pm, fans can enjoy discussion and in-depth analysis with ‘Ashes Verdict’, presented by Charles Colville alongside regular sparring partner Bob Willis, plus special guests including Marcus Trescothick and Jason Gillespie.
Then one hour before the beginning of the next day’s play, Ian Ward presents a new show – ‘Ashes Extra’ – which previews the forthcoming day’s action before Sky Sports’ live coverage with David Gower gets underway half-an-hour before play starts.
Sky Sports’ live through-the-night Ashes coverage is available on TV, PC and on the move via mobile and tablet devices thanks to Sky Go, while Sky Sports News will be the place to find daily 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.
Returning for the winter series is the Sky Sports Ashes Event Centre, which made its debut this summer as was hugely popular with Sky subscribers.
Sky’s first-ever second screen experience for cricket allows viewers 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 once again has every Ashes angle covered this winter and is the only place to either stay up or catch up with all the action.
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FREE-TO-AIR HIGHLIGHTS
With the start of the 2013/14 series fast approaching, no deal has been struck between Sky Sports and a terrestrial broadcaster for free-to-air highlights of the winter Ashes.
However, Sky’s free-to-air channel Pick is to broadcast Sky Sports’ one-hour highlights programme from each day’s play at 10.00pm every night during the Test series.
Pick is available on Freeview channel 11, Freesat 144, Sky 152 and Virgin Media 180.
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The BBC is set to bring cricket fans even more of this year’s winter Ashes action from Australia with round-the-clock coverage on BBC Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra and online.
Throughout the 25-day winter series, the iconic Test Match Special will once again offer exclusive live ball-by-ball radio commentary.
Returning to TMS for the winter series will be legendary Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath, who will join TMS presenter Jonathan Agnew, commentators Henry Blofeld, Simon Mann, Jim Maxwell and Ed Smith, summarisers Michael Vaughan, Geoff Boycott and Vic Marks and expert analyst Simon Hughes.
BBC Radio 5 live sports extra will offer build-up programming before each day’s play, a highlights show straight after play and then, from 11.00am, you will have the chance to relive the previous night’s Test Match Special again with coverage replayed throughout the day.
This 24-hour coverage will continue to be available on the BBC Sport website when there is live commentary of other sports on 5 live sports extra.
Full coverage can be accessed via the BBC Sport app and listened to live via the BBC iPlayer Radio app ensuring audiences can access Ashes action, at any point of the day, wherever they are.
This extensive commentary combined with a raft of special programming on Radio 5 live, including a special edition of Fighting Talk with Freddie Flintoff, a one-off ‘Not Just Cricket’ with Greg James, Jimmy Anderson and Graeme Swann, plus exclusive online content makes for an exciting winter of cricket on the BBC.
Coverage of the winter Ashes will be followed by live commentary of the 2014 Women’s Ashes on 5 live sports extra, a series which includes a one-off Test, three ODI’s and three T20’s beginning on January 10.
The BBC team for the Women’s Ashes includes Alison Mitchell, Isa Guha, Charles Dagnall and Alistair Bruce-Ball.
Online bbc.co.uk/cricket will provide a wealth of in-depth cricket content including latest scores and news, expert analysis and the opportunity to get involved in the interactive live text commentary.
Jonathan Wall, Controller of BBC Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra, says: “We’ve responded to the huge audience appetite for the Ashes in the summer with 5 live’s most ambitious plans ever for an overseas cricket tour.
“With the peerless Jonathan Agnew and co on TMS, 5 live’s Ashes Breakfast, daily podcasts and a special Freddie Flintoff Fighting Talk we think we’ve got something special, not just for England cricket followers, but for millions of sports fans all over the country.”
