IRELAND captain William Porterfield has called on his side to leave their poor batting display in Dhaka after falling short of a possible shock win over Bangladesh in their World Cup Group B opener.

England completed the formalities of wrapping up a first successful Ashes tour of Australia in 24 years before lunch on the fourth day of the fourth Test in Melbourne, winning by an innings and 157 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

AUSTRALIA are confident their captain Ricky Ponting will be fit for the St Stephen’s Day Ashes Test.

RICKY PONTING believes Mitchell Johnson’s “unbelievable” spell of fast, swing bowling transformed not just the third Test but perhaps the entire Ashes series.

GRAEME SWANN admits England will have to come up with something special to deal with Australia’s Shane Watson when the third npower Ashes Test resumes today.

ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss praised the stirring response his battle-weary side gave to their underwhelming Ashes series beginning after they recorded a historic win at Lord’s yesterday.

GRAEME SWANN urged against panic as England strive for victory today in the second npower Ashes Test at Lord’s.

CAPTAIN Andrew Strauss billed his unbeaten 161 as the best Test hundred of his career after England’s day of two halves against Australia at Lord’s.

MICHAEL CLARKE became the first dismissal under floodlights in Test cricket in Britain last night but only after boosting Australia’s position in the Ashes opener in Cardiff.

Two wickets in four deliveries from Mitchell Johnson helped Australia take control of the first Test against South Africa, with the hosts collapsing to 158 for eight at lunch on day three – still 109 runs short of the follow-on.