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

WHAT with all the young people planning to leave the country apparently, now’s the time to brush up on those foreign sports.

Ireland gave themselves the chance to claim a memorable first success over Australia after they restricted the tourists to 231 for nine in their one-day international in Dublin today.

AUSTRALIA captain Ricky Ponting feels that Test match cricket is the natural next step for the Ireland national team.

THE emergence of the GAA 126 years ago might have signalled the death knell for cricket as a mass participation sport in Ireland but the two codes are set to come face to face at Croke Park next weekend.

CAPTAIN Ricky Ponting rated Australia’s 36-run win over Pakistan in the second Test at the SCG among the most satisfying of his career.

Andrew Flintoff was appropriately involved in the pivotal moment as England bowled out Australia to reclaim the Ashes at the Oval today.

RICKY PONTING accepts his pantomime villain role in this summer’s Ashes simply “goes with the territory” for a touring Australia captain.

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.

JAMES ANDERSON revealed a desire not to waste their ‘get-out- of-jail’ card was behind England’s dominant display in the second npower Ashes Test at Lord’s yesterday.

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.

ENGLAND have ruled out any prospect of sentiment influencing their selection for today’s second Ashes Test and will only include Andrew Flintoff in their Lord’s plans if he has fully recovered from knee trouble.

ENGLAND coach Andy Flower feels Australia captain Ricky Ponting “made a meal” of perceived stalling tactics during the final afternoon of the first Ashes Test.

ENGLAND are facing an anxious wait to determine whether they face another dilemma over the balance of their side after all-rounder Andrew Flintoff emerged as a doubt for the second Ashes Test.

ENGLAND salvaged a dramatic draw in Cardiff as the first npower Ashes Test was embroiled in controversy during a tense finale.

ENGLAND’S 2005 Ashes hero Andrew Flintoff last night gave a dressing room rallying cry following Australian domination of the second day of the opening npower Testin Cardiff.

AUSTRALIA captain Ricky Ponting is confident his team will not repeat their mistakes of four years ago when they begin their defence of the Ashes today.

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.

AUSTRALIA captain Ricky Ponting has called for calm after India supporters demonstrated in the streets in response to the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to ban spin bowler Harbhajan Singh for three Tests.

The Australian prime minister has banned the national cricket team from visiting Zimbabwe.

ADAM GILCHRIST hopes Australia’s historic achievement winning the World Cup is not overshadowed by the farcical scenes at the end of the rain-hit final in Barbados.

Australia cruised to their 20th successive World Cup win at the expense of an under-strength Sri Lanka today to make almost certain of topping the Super Eight table.

AUSTRALIA ruthlessly dispatched Ireland yesterday to go clear at the top of the Super Eight standings.

RICKY PONTING hailed a hugely-accomplished performance from his Australia team in their 103-run World Cup Super Eight win over the West Indies yesterday.

Matthew Hayden’s second World Cup hundred in four days helped to put Australia in a dominant position in their rain-interrupted Super Eight match against West Indies.

Matthew Hayden’s second successive World Cup hundred powered Australia to 322 for six against West Indies, in the first Super Eight match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

ANDREW FLINTOFF hailed Paul Collingwood’s match-winning innings as the best one-day batting display he has witnessed after England beat Australia by four wickets at the MCG.

Ricky Ponting proved an unlikely ally in England’s bid to reach the Commonwealth Bank Series final with a magnificent century as Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets in Melbourne.

James Franklin removed both openers as New Zealand kept the pressure on Australia in their Commonwealth Bank Series clash in Melbourne.

AUSTRALIA captain Ricky Ponting has come to the defence of embattled England cricket coach Duncan Fletcher and skipper Andrew Flintoff, claiming the harassment they are suffering after losing the Ashes is “harsh”.

ENGLAND retreated slowly from the Adelaide Oval shocked and demoralised at how quickly their hopes of retaining the Ashes were demolished in one session of mayhem.

Matthew Hoggard produced a four-wicket haul to halt Australia’s fightback and keep England’s hopes of victory in the second Ashes Test alive.

England’s hopes of making further inroads into Australia’s batting line-up were undermined by a stubborn fourth wicket stand in the second Ashes Test.

ANDREW FLINTOFF is confident he has seen enough of a response from his under-fire England squad to believe they can be competitive in the remainder of the Ashes series.

ENGLAND have just three days to come up with some answers after a crushing 277-run loss to Australia in the opening Ashes cricket Test at the Gabba yesterday.

AUSTRALIA are hoping their bowling attack is not a case of out with the old and in with the new when the fourth npower Ashes Test begins at Trent Bridge tomorrow.

ENGLAND narrowly failed to claim a major advantage in the Ashes series after Australia clung on to claim a draw in another tense and dramatic finish to the third Test at Old Trafford.

ENGLAND captain Michael Vaughan admitted England’s Ashes hopes almost disappeared at Edgbaston after his side hung on for a nailbiting two-run second Test win against Australia to level the five-match series at 1-1.

ENGLAND had a great second day in the Edgbaston Test against Australia to give themselves a clear advantage yesterday.

Australia skipper Ricky Ponting set about laying the foundations for a sizeable target as his side extended their lead past 100 in the opening Ashes Test at Lord’s.

AUSTRALIA clinched their third Cricket World Cup with a thumping 125-run victory over India.

Australia won the toss in the first semi-final of the World Cup and chose to bat against Sri Lanka.

HAMPSHIRE chairman Rod Bransgrove has insisted that Shane Warne would continue to receive the county’s full support following the news that he had been sent home from the World Cup after failing a drugs test.