Eight players who never play Test cricket again ...Pointing

RETIRING Australian captain Michael Clarke won’t be the only player we never see again after this Ashes series.

Ricky Ponting has predicted there could be as many as eight players who never play Test cricket again when the dust settles after Australia’s humiliating defeat.
England secured the urn on Saturday by quickly collecting the final three Aussie wickets it needed to finalise victory in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge by an innings and 78 runs.
Clarke confirmed he was retiring at the end of the series in a post-match interview with Shane Warne. But he won’t be the only one to go according to former skipper Ponting.

“I had a good think about the squad last night, looking ahead and trying to plan a bit ahead for the future,” Ponting told espncricinfo.com. “I thought there could be eight guys who never play Test cricket again in this touring squad. That’s a big number. There’s only 17 on the tour, so that’s half the squad who might never play again.

“(Chris) Rogers is retiring, (Ryan) Harris has already retired, you think it would be hard for (Brad) Haddin to get back in at his age, you could say the same thing for (Shane) Watson — is Watson going to get back in at his age? I’d like to think so because I still think he’s got some good cricket ahead of him. There are a few others, but that might do me.”
Over-30s like Peter Siddle, Shaun Marsh and Adam Voges are the others who may join Clarke on the sideline permanently.

Clarke — who fought back tears during interviews after the match — said he made the decision to retire after his seventh failure with the bat in eight innings on day two. “I will have one more Test in my career and then retire. I don’t want to jump ship now so I’ll have one last Test,” Clarke said.
“You never want to walk away from the game but my performances in this series and the last 12 months have not been acceptable to me. You build yourself up for the big series, I’ve tried my best but now it’s time for the next captain to try and get the team ready for the next Ashes.”

It seemed the landmark decision over Clarke’s future was set to be in the hands of selectors, but the skipper has elected to stand himself down.
It’s understand selectors were involved in orchestrating the timing, but did not push him.
Clarke’s average of 16.71 is the second worst by an Ashes captain after Ricky Ponting who managed just 16.14 in the 2010-11 disaster on home soil.
Ponting lost his captaincy as a result of that tour and history has now repeated for Clarke.

Ben Stokes is a chance to match Stuart Broad’s eight wicket haul in the first innings.
THE end came quickly for Australia this morning. Mitchell Starc was caught at second slip by Ian Bell off the bowling of Ben Stokes for a duck.

Mark Wood followed that up taking out the stumps of Josh Hazlewood (0) and Nathan Lyon (four) to close the Aussie innings at 253.
Stokes finished with figures of 6/35 from 21 overs as England won by an innings and 78 runs. Adam Voges finished 51 not out.
“I’m just so proud of this young team and how they’ve taken this opportunity,” English captain Alastair Cook said.
Stokes added: “We’ve won the Ashes with one game to go and it’s absolutely surreal.”


DAY three promises to be a day of celebration for the English, who need just three Australian wickets to wrap up the Ashes today.
But some of the Poms were acting like the result was a foregone conclusion with some cheeky banter on Twitter. Former players Michael Vaughan and Matt Prior were among those welcoming the return of the urn.


The English team played it a little safer yesterday despite holding what seems like an unassailable advantage in the match. Reminded of Mitchell Starc’s chirpy comments after Australia’s win at Lord’s, English all-rounder Ben Stokes didn’t bite.
“Yeah we did see that,” said Stokes, breaking out in a grin. “I don’t want to go too far with this, but we’re hopefully going to lift the Ashes tomorrow.”
Starc (0 not out) will join Adam Voges (48 not out) when play resumes today. Australia is 7/241, still requiring another 90 runs to force England to bat again.
The major news of the morning in England was the expected retirement of Australian captain Michael Clarke. He is expected to announce the news when play finishes today.
“He will speak to us exclusively straight after the end of the match,” Channel 9 commentator Mark Nicholas said. “There have been discussions going on all morning.”

Co-commentator Vaughan said he wasn’t surprised, but hoped Clarke would play in the fifth Test at The Oval. “I’ve been watching him all series and I do think his mind has been elsewhere,” Vaughan said.
Last week, one of Australia’s greatest ever batsmen was determined to continue on, however it appears the disastrous events at Trent Bridge have changed the 34-year-old’s mind that the time is right for him to step aside.