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Match Facts

Mitchell Johnson is back in the Australia reckoning•Getty Images

December 16-20, Perth
Start time 10:30 (02:30 GMT)

The Big Picture

All both teams want for Christmas is a win, but Australia would settle for a draw as a way of stopping the damage from an opponent showing few weaknesses. England lead the five-match contest 1-0 and will retain the Ashes with a victory, which is the most likely result on the form of the opening two encounters. England have never secured the urn before Christmas in their 133-year history of visits Down Under, and they may never have a better chance.

The series is only 10 days old but already it has taken a toll on both sides. Stuart Broad has been ruled out with a stomach tear and will spend his week in the Test Match Special commentary box instead of the dressing room. Simon Katich’s heel problem has forced him out of the side and Australia have called for the type of wholesale changes England teams were mocked for making between 1989 and 2002-03. It’s young talent time for the hosts, with Steven Smith (21), Phillip Hughes (22) and Michael Beer (26) coming in, and Mitchell Johnson in favour again after a week spent in the WACA nets.Apart from which fast bowler to pick to replace Broad, England’s main worry is their recent history of giving away hard-won series leads. They allowed Australia to level the 2009 Ashes after four games – but recovered to take the trophy – and also drew in South Africa after earning an early advantage. Australia are praying for more generosity this time.

Form guide

(most recent first)
Australia LDLLL
England WDWLW

Watch out for…

Mitchell Johnson is back. That would have been a scary line once, but over the past two years he has become a man of mystery. Dropped for the first time in his Test career after going wicket-less in Brisbane, Johnson has trained his way back after an intense week working with Troy Cooley, the bowling coach. The WACA is a great venue for Johnson, who has 21 wickets in three Tests, including a career-best match haul of 11 for 159. Australia need that version of Johnson in this fixture, not the ineffective model that appeared at the Gabba.
The new dad James Anderson has been to Lancashire and back over the past week to be at the birth of his second child. Over the next five days he will have to battle jet-lag and an Australia batting line-up that is determined not to be overwhelmed by England’s remodelled attack. Anderson’s control and swing will be vital, especially when he’s running into the breeze of the Fremantle Doctor. He was dropped for the Perth Test on the previous tour, but is such a better bowler than he was four years ago..

Team news

Australia’s big question surrounds whether to play Peter Siddle, the bowler who started the series with six wickets on the opening day in Brisbane. Siddle hasn’t claimed a victim in Australia’s past two innings and Ryan Harris jumped ahead of him in Adelaide. If both Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus, the in-to-the-wind man, come back in, then Siddle will probably miss out. He may get a reprieve if Beer is left out, but that will depend on the wicket on Thursday morning. Ponting is delaying naming the side until he takes one final look at the surface.

Australia (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Phillip Hughes, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Steven Smith, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Michael Beer, 10 Ryan Harris, 11 Ben Hilfenhaus.It is now almost certain that Chris Tremlett will be Broad’s replacement ahead of Tim Bresnan. Despite Bresnan’s tactical nous on flat pitches, Tremlett offers extra bounce and menace with his height and will have a crucial role to play alongside Anderson, Steven Finn and Graeme Swann.England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Graeme Swann, 9 James Anderson, 10 Chris Tremlett, 11 Steven Finn.

Pitch and conditions

Perth is always talked up as a fast man’s favourite but over the past decade it has disappointed. Every year there is excited chatter from the locals that this time it will recapture its past glories. Maybe it will really happen this time. The pitch is expected to start with a tinge of green, but the cracking late in the match is expected to be a far greater concern to the batsmen than early seam movement. Sunny conditions are forecast throughout the game, with maximum temperatures above 30C.

Stats and trivia

• England have won only one of 11 Tests at the WACA, with that victory coming in the Packer-depleted era of 1978-79
• Australia have succeeded in 21 of 39 games here, with only nine losses. Five of those were against West Indies.
• Ricky Ponting is the leading the run-scorer in Tests at the WACA with 933, two more than Allan Border. David Gower is the best of the overseas players with 471 in five matches
• If Alastair Cook is wanting to add the highest score at the WACA to his Brisbane ground record, he must beat Matthew Hayden’s 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003-04

Quotes

“We are priming ourselves to play our best game so far in the series and we know we have to do it by a long way if we want to win the game.”
Ricky Ponting

“I feel like it’s part of my job as a bowler and I see myself as the leader of the attack here, so it’s important I think about what went right for us in the last two games and what we can improve on for this game.”
James Anderson had plenty time to ponder his game during 48 hours of flying in the past week

On New Zealand’s 1999 tour of India, the heat, the noise and the crowds had all started to take their toll on the visitors. In the second Test, Rahul Dravid was further adding to their woes by doing what he does best – batting long. As former New Zealand fast bowler Dion Nash tells it, a butterfly suddenly landed in the middle of the pitch, and Dravid pulled away from the strike. While the rest of the players watched in “collective horror”, Adam Parore stormed down the pitch and stomped on the insect. Dravid turned around and said loudly, “Oh no, he has kicked the butterfly, that’s bad luck for you guys”. It was indeed, for New Zealand went to suffer a big loss. The frustration of a typical Indian tour had had its effect on Parore.This time around, there has been anything but frustration in New Zealand’s camp heading in to the third Test. They even threatened to win the first Test, and comfortably drew the second. But just when everyone had forgotten the whitewash in Bangladesh that preceded this tour, they collapsed in this Test. India were allowed to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, admittedly with a little bit of help from the umpires.New Zealand’s performance today wasn’t all that surprising. The ball turned and bounced, and with two umpiring howlers going against them, they didn’t have much of a chance to save the game. It was their batting debacle on the first day on a true surface that was the real surprise, especially since it followed their creditable batting performances in the first two Tests, albeit on flat tracks.”I can only look at the overall performance and say it was poor in this Test as compared to the first two Tests,” Daniel Vettori said. “We were exceptional then because we grinded it out and put in good performances. In this part of the world, the first-innings runs keep you in the game, and then it’s up to your bowling attack to take wickets but that didn’t happen here. I think after winning the toss, scoring just 193 put us under a lot of pressure.”We might never know whether it was because New Zealand play better when they are the underdogs, which they were in the first two Tests, and stumbled here because they went in with higher expectations, or whether Brendon McCullum’s last-minute injury completely unsettled the team. The second day was the best for batting on this pitch, and their bowlers couldn’t make much headway. Their chance came on the third day morning; the ball was still hard and they removed Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, and Suresh Raina, but Vettori was left to rue their inability to dislodge the pair of Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni.”We bowled so well and took three wickets but couldn’t capitalise on that. Dhoni and Dravid played exceptionally well. There were lots of niggles for us but I think India showed us how to bat, especially in this Test.”Their fight evaporated after the 193-run stand between Dravid and Dhoni. In the first Test at Ahmedabad, after a hard day’s work when New Zealand had fought hard to push India on to the back foot, Sreesanth came to meet the press. After giving credit to the opposition, he couldn’t help himself, saying “Let’s see how they play on a proper turning track. I think they will struggle”.Today, they did exactly that, and collapsed in a heap. “Any time you lose, you surrender too early,” Vettori said. “We knew we had to be positive this morning but couple of dismissals… There was a period where India bowled well but once you get through the new [hard] ball, it’s a wicket where you can bat on for a long time. We are disappointed with our performance.”On the eve of the game, Vettori had said that they would be judged on how they performed in the final Test. India were without their best bowler Zaheer Khan and New Zealand had won the toss, but everything went pear-shaped from then on. “A loss is a loss. It should hurt us as much no matter the situation. To win the toss we were pretty happy with that. If we had gone through that period- just 58 overs were bowled – and come in the next morning, which was the best day to bat as India proved, but we made things difficult the way we batted on the first day.”

The wicketkeeper Matt Prior wants England to start the Ashes tour with a warm-up victory over Western Australia to build momentum for the Test series. The tourists open their trip with a three-day game in Perth on Friday, one of three matches before the start of the main event at the Gabba.While defending the Ashes is the priority, Prior said the squad’s first goal was an early victory. “It is a first-class game and we will treat that match as a first-class game, very seriously,” Prior said in Perth. “Winning is a habit and the quicker you can get into the habit the better.”England are looking for their first Ashes victory in Australia since 1986-87 and have given themselves plenty of time to acclimatise. Graeme Swann, the offspinner who hurt his thumb in the nets, is the only doubt for the match against Western Australia, who will be led by Marcus North.The pitches in Perth have excited the bowlers with their bounce and Prior said it was an ideal way to settle into the Australian environment, even though they won’t be back at the WACA until the third Test. “To be thrown in the deep end is a good thing,” he said. “You get thrown in the deep end and work backwards, which is better than taking it easy and then being given a shock.”Prior enjoyed personal success amid England’s successful run at home this summer averaging more than 50, batting at No. 7, in six Tests against Bangladesh and Pakistan. But he insisted that it was important not to let praise for his contributions with both bat and gloves distract him from what is an ongoing, and taxing, role. “Any time you get compliments from your peers like that is a great moment and obviously makes you feel good,” he said. “But it’s not necessarily anything you can listen to.””I’ve got to make sure I score the runs. It’s going to be a very important role in that late middle order, and we’re going to have to knuckle down and get some runs this tour. I’m thoroughly looking forward to that and the potential responsibility of maybe batting with a few of the guys down the order. That is a challenge in itself and one I really enjoy.”

Ryan ten Doeschate, the Netherlands allrounder, has been named the Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year at the ICC Awards ceremony in Bangalore. He was chosen by the jury over Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad and the Ireland duo of Trent Johnston and Kevin O’Brien. He has won this award for the second time – his first came in 2008.During the voting period – from August 24, 2009 to August 10, 2010 – ten Doeschate played for the Netherlands in five ODIs, making one century and three half-centuries. He averaged 121.33 at a strike rate of 79.30. He also played four Twenty20 Internationals for his country, scoring 94 runs at an average of 47. In the one ICC Intercontinental Cup fixture he played during this period, ten Doeschate scored an unbeaten 212 against Kenya, striking 22 fours and seven sixes in his first innings, and claiming 7 for 174 in the game with his medium pace.ten Doeschate couldn’t attend the award but was delighted to receive the prize. “I’m really upset that I am unable to attend tonight’s ceremony to accept my second ICC award. I feel extremely privileged to be once again recognised by the ICC and the Voting Academy for my performances this year.”I would like to take this opportunity to thank the KNCB (the Netherlands board) and my team-mates as well as the ICC for the continued support it shows to Associate and Affiliate cricket.”

ScorecardCraig Williams has turned in a fine allround performance for Namibia•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Half-centuries from Ewaid Steenkamp, Craig Williams and Sarel Burger took Namibia to 320 for 4 on the second day of their ICC Intercontinental Shield match against Uganda in Windhoek.Steenkamp and Raymond Van Schoor got Namibia off to a flying start, putting on 55 for the first wicket at a run-a-ball before Van Schoor was bowled by Emmanuel Isaneez for 31 off just 32 deliveries. Steenkamp and Burger then made sure the early momentum would not be squandered with a 124-run partnership. Steenkamp’s 87 came off 120 deliveries and contained 14 fours, while Burger played the anchor role, taking 161 balls for his 68, with nine fours.Williams continued to build on the foundation provided by the top three, finishing the day unbeaten on 78 from 193 deliveries, a day after picking up five wickets.Uganda got through 109 overs in the day, with offspinner Frank Nsubuga bearing the brunt of the load, bowling 35 overs and finishing with figures of 1 for 69.Wicketkeeper Lawrence Sematimba’s maiden first-class hundred lifted Uganda to a first-innings score of 329 on the first day.

West Indies have left out experienced allrounder Pamela Lavine from the squad for the ICC Women’s Challenge to be played at Potchefstroom in South Africa this October. Two new players, Subrina Munroe and Pearl Etienne, have been selected on the strength of their performances in the recent WICB Women’s tournament.”The two new players are both very good seam bowlers,” Chairman of selectors, Clyde Butts, said. “Both can also bat and they can be expected to make good contributions in the lower order.”Butts said that he expected the young but experienced side to do well in South Africa. “We have the nucleus of the team, which has been playing together for the last couple of years. Most of the players have done well at the international level,” he said. “There is a good balance in the squad and we have a lot of allrounders.”This series is being seen as part of the ultimate build-up to the next ICC Women’s World Cup. We are looking to build with the future in mind. This trip will be a chance to gain more experience in foreign conditions.”Butts said that Lavine, despite her omission, was still part of the selectors’ plans. “Her general fitness worked against her on this occasion and for this tour we decided to look at some other options. Not making the team for this tour does not mean she has been discarded nor has she been retired.”West Indies play their first 50-over match on October 6 against Netherlands and take on South Africa in the first Twenty20 on October 14.West Indies Women
Merissa Aguilleira (capt & wk), Anisa Mohammed (vc), Shemaine Campbell (wk), Britney Cooper, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Pearl Etienne, Cordel Jack, Stacy-Ann King, Subrina Munroe, Juliana Nero, Shakera Selman, Tremayne Smartt, Stafanie Taylor.

Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe has said the ICC must settle on two formats – Tests and Twenty20s – to secure the future of the game and market it better. Crowe said attempts to make ODI cricket more appealing would lead to confusion. Instead, he added, the way forward was to provide context to Tests through an annual knockout Test Championship while consolidating the popularity of Twenty20 cricket.”I don’t believe three forms will work, I think it is confusing,” Crowe said on Cricinfo’s fortnightly audio show Time Out, hosted by Harsha Bhogle. “I think new formats, tinkering with rules like silly split innings will only see the global game become another fun park with different rides and attractions. That will just dilute the market and create confusion and chaos.”They [ICC] have to consolidate the two forms, like we sort of had it in the 70s and 80s with 50-overs cricket and Test cricket. Settle on Twenty20, just see out the life of 50-over cricket and therefore give Test cricket the chance to stand on it’s own as one strong pillar alongside Twenty20.”Crowe, who is part of the MCC Cricket Committee, had, in September last year, unveiled plans – which he had presented to the ICC – to make Test cricket more competitive. He proposed a yearly Test Championship comprising seven six-day knockout games, with the top four ranked teams hosting the bottom four in quarter-finals within the Future Tours Programme (FTP) starting 2012 and eventually leading to a title winner.”We have to get to a point where we are hosting a Test Championship final, and those seven games will become the great focus throughout the course of the year for all the media, the fans and the teams,” Crowe said. “It also gives all eight teams a chance, over six days, to win that Test match and progress forward. This way we are also using the FTP and the existing schedule. So, not a lot has to change but just the case of marketing the knock-out format within the FTP.”The Championship, while giving all teams an opportunity to win the title, would also make Tests more relevant, Crowe said. “It firstly gives the worst team a chance to possibly dream that it could make that final. And obviously it gives all the other teams a chance to be crowned every year. That gives Test cricket a meaning, which I think is very important.”At the moment, you have World Cups, Champions Trophies, World Twenty20, the IPL, the Champions League, all these shorter formats are up and running, dominating the landscape, and they all have a meaning and they all crown a champion. But Test cricket, which is the pinnacle, is the purest and the best form of the game, doesn’t have anything.”Crowe also backed the concept of day-night Tests and the use of pink balls to make Test cricket more attractive and draw more fans. “Test cricket needs a lot more work from the marketing point of view, and that’s where day-night Test cricket must be trialled soon,” he said. “I believe that this will be an exciting part of Test cricket that somewhere along the line within the FTP, somewhere in the world there will be a day-night Test going on. It won’t suit every country and the conditions in some countries won’t allow it. But I certainly think that in some places it will be wonderful for the local market.”The MCC has nearly nailed it with the pink ball. It nearly lasts up to 70 overs, and that’s pretty close to what you want in a Test match. It’s time we tried it, because people will be surprised as to how good it is.”Sanjay Manjrekar, the former India batsman, felt Test cricket needed other tweaks, such as lifting the ban on bouncers. “The two bouncers per over ban has to be lifted. Because then, Test cricket will provide something that Twenty20 cricket and 50-over cricket doesn’t provide,” Manjrekar said on the show. “When you see bouncers, and fast bowlers intimidating batsman at the other end, it’s a spectacle that I have seen people enjoy and I am sure even modern audiences will also enjoy that spectacle.”

ScorecardFormer South Africa international Herschelle Gibbs’ first century in Twenty20 cricket was not enough to earn Yorkshire a win as Nicky Boje somehow snatched Northamptonshire a tie at Wantage Road.Gibbs hammered a magnificent 101 not out off 53 balls with his explosive knock including five sixes and eight fours, as Yorkshire made an imposing 180 for 3 off their 20 overs. Improbably, with Northamptonshire needing 13 off the final ball, Richard Pyrah’s no ball was clouted for six by Boje over long leg with Gibbs’ former South Africa team-mate smashing the following delivery through midwicket for four to claim a share of the spoils.Yorkshire won the toss and chose to bat first, but they got off to a bad start when, in the third over, Adam Lyth launched Chaminda Vaas to Alex Wakely at extra cover. Captain Jacques Rudolph made 14 before chipping Boje to Northamptonshire skipper Andrew Hall at extra cover.But Gibbs made it to 50 off just 28 balls as he continued to punish the Steelbacks attack. He and Anthony McGrath added 58 runs together for the third wicket before the latter, who made 16, hammered Lee Daggett to David Willey at long-onAfter his dismissal, the visitors really cut loose with Gibbs and Jonathan Bairstow blasting 73 runs between them in the last five overs. Bairstow smashed two sixes in consecutive balls off Vaas in the penultimate over on his way to an unbeaten 32 off 14 balls, with Gibbs claiming his century in the final over from 53 balls.Chasing 181, Northamptonshire openers David Sales and Vaas raced to 50 off just 27 balls as they took the game to the Yorkshire attack. Former West Indies paceman Tino Best finally made the breakthrough when he forced Sales, who was just one short of a deserved half-century, to edge to wicketkeeper Gerard Brophy.The in-form Vaas did make his 50, off 38 balls including two sixes, before smashing Adil Rashid to Azeem Rafiq at mid-wicket. Elton Chigumbura made 11 before launching Pyrah to Rashid at deep midwicket as the wheels began to fall off the Steelbacks chase.Two wickets by McGrath in the penultimate over threatened to seal Northamptonshire’s fate as O’Brien was caught by Lyth at long-off before Hall smashed him to Pyrah at deep midwicket. But Boje struck a six and a four off the last two deliveries to claim an unlikely tie.

The ICC will be keeping close tabs on the experiment of split-innings one-day cricket in Australia next year but Haroon Lorgat, the chief executive, remains confident that the 50-over format can continue in its current guise for one-day internationals.Last week Cricket Australia announced that they will trial the new structure in the Ford Ranger Cup during the 2010-11 season whereby the matches are divided into four 25-over innings. There remains a strong feeling that one-day cricket has to change to survive in the wake of Twenty20 now dominating the landscape and the 50-over format has already been ditched for domestic cricket in England and South Africa.The 2015 World Cup, set for Australia and New Zealand, is being seen as a potential changing point for one-day cricket and Lorgat didn’t rule out that a new structure could be in place.”We haven’t talked about changing that format,” he told Cricinfo’s Switch Hit podcast. “We will see how the 2011 event unfolds and I’m very confident that you will see an excellent World Cup which means we wouldn’t tamper with it for 2015, but it’s something we will be open-minded about. Let’s see how the domestic trials go, let’s see how the World Cup goes and then we can take a view on it.”Australia will begin the trials once the international players have left for next year’s World Cup which will be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. At a lower level split innings have been used in English second XI this season and, despite Lorgat’s confidence over the international game, if 50-over cricket continues to be lost from domestic cricket it would only seem a matter of time before ODIs also evolve.”Whilst we are trialling these things at domestic level we are still quite confident that 50-overs at international level will survive,” Lorgat added. “What we probably need to be focussing on is the context in which it is being played, the quantity of 50-over matches and when it is scheduled. At international level I don’t hold the view that the format is as challenged as it is at domestic level.Lorgat added that any new structure for ODIs would need considerable time to bed in before it was used for a World Cup. “We’ve always been mindful of giving players sufficient time to become accustomed to whatever changes we might make.”We have been encouraging members to look at tweaks or fundamental changes to the 50-over format so we can see how it works out and whether it would be something we would be interested in picking up for the international format, so I’m very keen to see how it all unfolds in Australia.”

Karachi opener Shahzaib Hasan, one of three new faces in Pakistan’s side for the upcoming Asia Cup, believes he is ready for the challenges of international one-day cricket.”I am confident that I can play well in the 50-over format of the game,” he told . “While I have no international experience at the 50-over format, I’m sure that I can turn my recent good domestic form into runs at international level and I am ready for the challenge of 50-over international cricket.” In domestic one-dayers, Hasan has scored 504 runs at an average of 38.76 and a strike-rate of 100.Hasan, who has played four Twenty20 internationals, is currently attending the national training camp at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, where the team is being put through net sessions and fielding practice, along with lots of one-on-one coaching. “We are being pushed hard by the coaches and it is tough work in this heat, but I am really enjoying it,” he said. “Waqar bhai and Ijaz bhai are just tremendous; they have a real connection with the boys, and know how to get the very best out of them.”Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi also gave Hasan batting advice, which the 20-year-old has taken to heart. “Shahid bhai has told me to be positive, and to bat with a positive attitude and not to think of any negative thoughts when I am batting, which I think is excellent advice and advice that I will take on board”The tip from Afridi came on top of advice Hasan received from Pakistan legend Javed Miandad at a recent emerging players camp. “He [Miandad] gave me a lot of advice, especially with regards to some technical issues and batting with soft hands and rotating the strike. He also told me to concentrate more on working the ball around the field instead of looking for big shots all of the time.”A fellow rookie in the Pakistan squad, Umar Amin, also expressed his excitement at being called up and his eagerness to succeed at the international level. Umar, who has a first-class average of over 42, was playing a club match in Rawalpindi when he heard the news. “My mother called me up and told me that I had been selected for the Asia Cup squad. I think my form currently is pretty good after the recently concluded Pentangular Cup in Karachi.”Umar said that, if given the opportunity to play, the knowledge of Sri Lankan conditions acquired on A-team tours would prove handy. “I am very aware of the conditions in Sri Lanka and I’m happy to bat wherever I am required.” On that tour, Umar made 153 against Sri Lanka A in a four-day game in Dambulla, the venue for the Asia Cup.