Ashes dark days sparked fire

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ENGLAND'S current Ashes dominance was born in the repeated humiliations delivered by Warne, McGrath, Ponting and Co.

Ian Bell, England's middle-order maestro, said the lessons learned, particularly in the 2006-07 whitewash in Australia, still resonate with the current team and has been a catalyst in the turn around as the visitors aim for their fourth successive Ashes win this summer.

"Coming on tours when I started with England it wasn't the feeling of winning a series, it was trying to not make it as bad as it possibly can,'' Bell said yesterday in Hobart preparing for tomorrow's tour game against Australia A.

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"Now, there is no doubt that obviously the one (last series) in England and here we've come as favourites, which is a different pressure all together.

"It is a lot different culture in the English team now, not just against Australia but generally against whoever we play people from our side of things media-wise and people at home expect us to win."

He said the lessons of success were rammed home by the great Australian side that didn't lose an Ashes series from 1989 until 2005 and then retook the prized urn with a drubbing in the '06-07 series.

Bell initially struggled in the Ashes contests, being dubbed "the Sherminator" by perennial England baiter Shane Warne, but has now become arguably the visitors most consistent batsman, highlighted by his series high 562 runs at 62.4 during the winter in England's 3-0 win.

"Certainly in 2005, I think it was my fourth Test match, mentally and technically I wasn't ready for Test cricket but in a way it gave me a good lesson because I was playing against Warne, McGrath, Ponting _ you go from one to 11 (they are all) legends of the game," he said.

"They showed me certainly when we came here and lost 5-0 what proper Test cricket was all about.

"If I wanted to make a career in Test cricket I had to improve in a lot of areas and they were the lessons I took away from it.

"I wouldn't say I looked back with bad memories, they were just massive lessons I learned in my career.

"And I can honestly say I was lucky to play against some of the best players who have ever played the game, hopefully I've tried to learn a little bit from each of those guys and put it into my game."

England did not train yesterday but confirmed captain Alastair Cook and batsman Kevin Pietersen would both play against Australia A after sitting out the tour opener in Perth.

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Poms praise Aussie influence

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AS if losing consistently to England was not bad enough, a lot of the old enemy's success has been built on Australian coaching and know how.

In former Victorian and Tasmanian quick David Saker as England's bowling coach and with Jason Gillespie in charge at Yorkshire, Australia's influence is high.

And to top it off, even current Australian coach Darren Lehmann coached at Yorkshire and has had current squad members Joe Root and Monty Panesar refining their craft at his Adelaide cricket academy.

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England spearhead James Anderson rated Saker as the best bowling coach he has played under.

"I think just the way he works out a batsman and comes up with plans for me, we are on the same wave length for that sort of thing," Anderson said yesterday in Hobart.

"We build up the pressure around that.

"He's probably more tactically minded than technical from a coach's point of view.

"He's probably the best bowling coach I've worked with tactically.

"At the stage of my career, I don't really need any technical help, it is more the tactically side I need help with."

While on his first Ashes tour of Australia, opening batsman Root was down under during the last Ashes campaign attending the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy and playing Adelaide club cricket for Prospect.

"He (Lehmann) didn't spend a lot of time at the Academy but it was good to get his thoughts on a few things about batting," Root said.

"He's obviously had a very good career as a player and had a good start to his coaching career as well so it was good to get some tips and help from him."

Root has also benefited from Gillespie's tutelage at Yorkshire, as has fellow tourists Jonathan Bairstow and Gary Ballance.

"He's been brilliant, he's done a fantastic job at Yorkshire, he's just a really nice bloke," he said.

"He's a fantastic coach and I've learned a lot from him.

"All the lads at Yorkshire respect him very highly for what he did in the game as a player but more so as a coach as well."

However, Root said Gillespie had not turned complete traitor when it came to national secrets.

"Australians don't like to give too much away but he's been very good in helping me develop my game over the past two years and he's done everything he can to try and progress my cricket as you would expect from your coach," Root said.

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Trott: I have ironed out flaws

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JONATHAN Trott claims it was just a perception that he failed to handle the short ball during the last Ashes series.

Attack leader Ryan Harris has made a blunt assessment of the way the Australians unsettled Trott in England, restricting him to a series average of just 29.

However the former South African under 19 batsman insists his lack of productivity was due to technical flaws.

"I think that is part of Test cricket. People are going to bowl short balls and yorkers and all sorts to try to get you out," Trott said in Hobart yesterday as England prepared for the match against Australia A, beginning tomorrow (Wednesday).

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"I got out to full balls a lot more than short balls. It's one of the things people's perception is. Everyone is entitled to their own perception.

"I know what I've got to focus on this series and what I did when we came here [last time].

"Ryan Harris played then, a pretty similar bowling attack then ... I have got good memories of being here so I wouldn't say I'm particularly worried about anything specifically delivery-wise, it's more about me getting my game in good nick and feeling good."

After a debut century during the last Test at The Oval in 2009 which won England the Ashes, Trott averaged 89 on his previous tour of Australia three years ago as the touring batsmen filled their boots.

It was the first Ashes loss to England in Australia for 24 years.

Trott believes he has identified the reasons why he did not have the same significant impact during the most recent series in England earlier this year.

"I got myself out a few times and first Test at Trent Bridge I got a weird review. I'm still scratching my head about that," he said.

"I technically had a few flaws which I have hopefully ironed out.

"To look back at the summer and be disappointed would be foolish because we won the series 3-0.

"Just because I averaged 30 (29) doesn't make it a huge train smash. I still had some hands in some important partnerships and it was an exciting and eventful series."

Trott was also unconcerned about the likely recall of Mitchell Johnson, who worked the batsman over with short bowling during the one-day series that followed the Ashes.

"I wouldn't say blows, he got me out once, and he bowled really well," said Trott.

"That's what fast bowlers do. There's nothing new to that. It's not a new thing in cricket.

"Again I probably created my own downfall in the way I was playing and technically probably wasn't doing what I normally do.

"I created that scenario myself, not so much the Australians.

"I think Mitch is bowling really well. He has gone away and worked really hard on his game. That's good to see from a player."

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Adam has drive to break record

Adam Scott follows through on a bunker shot at the 2013 Tour Championship tournament in Atlanta. Source: Jason Getz / AP

POWER-striking Masters hero Adam Scott has been tipped to set a new course record 62 at Royal Pines, where a drivable 280m par four is to be set up to spike crowd excitement at the Australian PGA.

Gold Coast-based Victorian pro Steve Jones predicted Scott could make the course-best 63 redundant with a light breeze, a hot round with the putter and the 2013 precision he has used to win three titles and more than $5 million in prizemoney.

The 193cm Jones, one of Australia's longest drivers off the tee with recorded 300m-plus drives, relished the plan to shorten the 344m eighth into a feature hole where the field could attempt to smote the ball to the green with a single blow for an eagle putt.

Scott is sure to go for broke there.

His drawing drive, by bunkers, to the green at the 343m par four fourth hole, when the tournament was at Palmer Coolum Resort in 2011, was one of the more remarkable shots of that week.

Thursday's opening round is likely to pitch crowd magnet Adam Scott and American Brandt Snedeker, the world No.9, into a feature afternoon three-ball.

"I've probably played Royal Pines as often as anyone in the field. It'll play harder than many people think but a guy who hits it phenomenal like Adam Scott can break that 63 if conditions are right," Jones said.

"Ask most pros and they love courses with a short, drivable par four with that real risk-reward factor. It's a great idea for the tournament."

Andrew Langford-Jones, director of tournaments for the PGA of Australia, has spent 12 months nutting out ways to raise the adrenalin of entertainment with course tweaks on the largely flat Gold Coast layout of wide avenues between the trees.

"There is a new tee block in play on the eighth where we can shorten the hole to around 280m which is definitely a plan for one round to give the players a drive at the green," Langford-Jones revealed.

Tweaking the eighth is a forerunner to a permanent change when the earthmoving equipment of course architect Graham Marsh gets active in February.

"We'll pull the green forward closer to the water, put gallery mounds behind the green and play it, say, 280m off the forward tee block to create an exciting stadium hole with the most powerful club in a player's hand," Marsh said.

With the ninth's switch from a birdie-friendly par five to a par four, the course will play as a par 71, rather than the regular 72, so the best round of the event will stand as the new course record.

Cameron Percy, who played on the PGA Tour in the US, said yesterday's 40km/h wind gusts during a practice round were a strong defence for the course as well as the firm greens.

"The fans want to see guys ripping the driver not playing a hole with three iron and wedge so I'm all for a short par four because we are basically entertainers," Percy enthused.

"Scotty could shoot a 62 with the way his golf swing and confidence are right now but I reckon I fixed only one pitch mark on a green all round because they are so firm."

Scott will likely play practice holes today before showing off his fabled Masters green jacket for tonight's traditional Dinner With The Stars scene-setter at the Royal Pines resort.

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Aussies, India set new mark

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INDIA and Australia set a new benchmark during their record-breaking one-day series, with a combined total of 3274 runs scored between them.

Despite losing the seven-match series 3-2 (two games were washed out), Australia narrowly outscored the home side by 12 runs.

But it was India's ability to chase down Australia's totals that made the difference. The series included the second and third highest successful ODI run chases in history and only once did India fail to win batting second.

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The highest individual run-scorer of the series was Rohit Sharma with a staggering 491, but Australia's George Bailey came close with 478.

Sharma's spectacular double century in Bangalore was the platform on which India won the series decider.

An average of 658.8 runs were scored in every game and each team was bowled out just once during the series. Such was the dominance of the top order batsmen that Australia's last man in, Xavier Doherty, picked up his bat for the first time in the final ODI.

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With the next World Cup in Australia in February 2015, the two top ranked ODI sides have ensured that 350 is the new normal.

But it's going to take a spectacular effort to dethrone India, the defending World Cup champions, whose powerful batting line-up has never looked more intimidating.

In volatile No. 3 Virat Kohli, India have found a natural successor to Sachin Tendulkar as their leading man.

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Kohli produced two breathtaking innings to spearhead miracle, record-breaking run chases in Jaipur and Nagpur, shattering the spirits of Australia's bowlers.

The 52-ball and 66-ball centuries took the game away from Australia before they could do anything about it.

That's not to mention the explosive qualities of skipper MS Dhoni, who hit a sparkling, unbeaten

139 in Mohali, as well as the proven match-winning ability of Yuvraj Singh.

All up, it spells danger for sides a little over a year out from the World Cup.

"There is a reason India are the No. 1 team in the world," Bailey said.

"They are the best one-day team in the world and they are very, very hard to beat.

"So for us to come over here and be as competitive and play some quality cricket, we have grown as a team. It's pretty exciting going forward."

THE RECORDS TO HAVE FALLEN IN THE HIGH-SCORING AUSTRALIA-INDIA ONE-DAY SERIES:

Game two in Jaipur, where India chased Australia's target of 360 with 39 balls to spare:

* India's highest run chase

* Second highest run chase of all time

* Virat Kohli's 52-ball 100 is the fastest by an Indian batsman, and seventh fastest of all time

* Kohli's century was also the fastest against Australia

* Australia became the first team to have top five all score half-centuries

* Just the second time one team has had five players score half-centuries

Game three in Mohali, where Australia chased India's target of 304 with 3 balls remaining:

* Ishant Sharma's match-losing 48th over, which cost 30 runs, was the equal fifth most expensive over of all time.

* It was the most scored by Australia in one over, with all coming from the bat of James Faulkner Game seven in Bangalore

* James Faulkner's 100 off 57 balls the fastest by an Australian, beating Matt Hayden's record of 66 balls

* Glenn Maxwell's 18-ball half-century the equal second fastest of all time, behind Sanath Jayasuriya's 17-ball effort

* Rohit Sharma's 209 the second-highest individual ODI score

George Bailey:

* His 478 runs are already the most by any player in a bilateral series

* Became the first person to pass 1000 ODI runs in 2013, during his career-best knock of 156

* Became just the ninth Australian to complete a 1000-run calendar year

* Became the fastest Australian to pass 1500 ODI runs, achieving the task in just 32 games.

* He is second to South Africa's Hashim Amla, who took just 30 games

* ODI average of 56.85 is the second-best of all-time behind Dutchman Ryan ten Doeschate's 67 Virat Kohli:

* Has notched 1000 ODI runs for the third consecutive year

* Became the fastest player to score 17 ODI centuries, achieving the feat in 112 innings

Other notables:

* Australia have lost the five highest successful run chases

* They've been involved in the top eight chases, but only have two wins

* Rohit Sharma's 491 is the most runs in a bilateral series

* Most century partnerships in a bilateral series, with 11

* Australia have struck 66 sixes — their highest in a bilateral series.

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Swing time at the SCG

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PAUL Goldschmidt has 158 metres between him and ultimate bragging rights.

One of the biggest hitters in American baseball, Arizona Diamondbacks star Goldschmidt today gets his first chance to launch into those iconic SCG grandstands — the venue for his Major League season opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers next March.

Capable of hitting a baseball in excess of 450 feet, the powerful slugger will be pitted against a group of Sydney Sixers batsmen, including Steve Smith, to see if he can break the Guinness World Records six set to by Pakistani blaster Shahid Afridi back in March.

"Sounds like fun, doesn't it," Smith said last night. "I'm certainly not the biggest hitter here at NSW, I think that honour belongs to Shane Watson, but it will certainly be fun having a crack.

"During the Big Bash season our practice sessions occasionally include 'range hitting' — where we basically set a bowling machine up in the middle of the ground and practice hitting sixes. It's all about finding the right swing, the right tempo and knowing exactly what range you have when it comes to clearing fences."

Despite being among the hottest names in US sports right now, Goldschmidt remains relatively unknown Down Under, with even Smith revealing he has never heard of the 26-year-old overnight sensation.

Yet all that is set to change from today, when the Diamondbacks blaster kicks off a whirlwind promotional tour with a series of challenges that will showcase his throwing power, throwing accuracy and ability to send little white balls into orbit.

Despite starting the year on a contract of just $500,000 — the equivalent of NRL Minimum Wage in a league where paycheques are measured in millions — Goldschmidt smashed his way into the American sports consciousness thanks to 36 home runs, equal first in the National League. Elsewhere, he also led the league in slugging percentage (.551), extra-base hits (75), RBIs and total bases (332).

And so the trophies have followed.

In the past fortnight, Goldschmidt has been awarded the Hank Aaron gong in the National League, for best offensive player, and the Rawlings Golden Glove, for best defensive player.

Winning the second of those two prestigious awards is even more remarkable considering, during his minor league career, the man now being dubbed 'America's First Baseman' wasn't exactly revered for his efforts in the field. In fact, the 2009 Baseball America scouting report labelled him a "below-average" defender who was "not smooth around the bag."

"So it should make for an interesting morning," Smith grinned. "I can't wait to see how he hits it."

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Dark days ahead for Sky Blues

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AFTER Saturday's controversial loss to Perth, Nick Carle has admitted it's getting tough to see where Sydney FC's next win is going to come from.

The Sky Blues were dealt a major blow when Glory were awarded a dubious penalty, which prompted calls from Frank Farina to introduce video technology to the A-League.

It wasn't the penalty Farina found issue with, it was an offside decision leading up to it that went unnoticed.

While Carle agrees with his coach, he also knows Sydney had more than enough time to get on the scoresheet.

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"I think it was clear that we were the better team on the day and we didn't get the right result," Carle said.

"But at the end of the day, regardless of whatever happened, we still have to score goals to win games and not concede goals to not lose games. "Even though I felt it was a horrible decision by the ref we still had a lot of time to score goals."

For a team already low on confidence, Carle says it's a difficult loss to come to terms with.

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"I thought the performance was a lot better by the team and I felt we deserved a lot more out of the game," he said.

"It came at a very difficult time for us with a few losses. After having such a good performance and losing the game it just really came at a difficult time for us and it was a big decision to go against us. But we've got to get on with it and look forward and not say we should have won the game if it wasn't for that decision, we still had 80 or so minutes to score a goal and get ourselves back into it.

"I felt we dominated the game, we created enough chances, we've just got to finish it off. But it wasn't for a lack of trying."

While there were plenty of positives to take out of the game, Carle says it's going to be tough to lift everyone's spirits this week.

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"It's not an easy one, three games on the bounce, so I'd be lying if I said we just have I think about the next game," he said.

"The one big positive that we it out of it is more the style of play we want to play. I felt we managed to keep the ball more than other games.

"It's going to be a very difficult week for us because everyone's anxious to win a game now, we want to get the points on the board so everyone's getting a bit nervous about that.

"It's really for the coaching staff and us older boys to try lead the younger boys and make sure we do get the right result this weekend."

Fortunately Sydney will get a chance to redeem themselves at home this weekend against Melbourne Victory.

Carle knows two goals in four games isn't good enough, but he's determined to start stringing some wins together.

"Playing at home in front of our home crowd is a big bonus for us and I think we owe it to them to get the right result," he said.

"I think if we can put in the same amount of effort we did and play as well as we did in Perth, because that's a difficult trip, but to put on a performance the way we did I think we can get something out of the game."

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HAVE you checked out the Fox Football Podcast yet?

The latest addition to the Fox Sports' football stable has enjoyed a bumper start, in at #2 on the iTunes charts for sports pods in Australia.

Host Adam Peacock is joined this week for episode three by Simon Hill and Brenton Speed in the studio, and on the phone by Daniel Garb from London.

There's no shortage of fodder for the gang to discuss - from the Sydney derby, the Sky Blues woes, the latest from the EPL and Europe and a look to this weekend's domestic action - and none of our pundits are short of an opinion.

For your mid-week fix of football talk and fun - who knew Simon Hill had such a repertoire of accents - the Fox Football podcast is your place to go.

You can check it out here at the iTunes store, subscribe, and share your rating!

And if you're an Android user, you can find the pod on the iPP Podcast Player app.

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Matt Prior's net gains

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ENGLAND wicketkeeper Matt Prior reckons he's in the hottest of form. Unfortunately for him, it's in the nets rather than on the field.

Prior is under pressure to perform this summer after scoring just 133 runs at an average of 19 during England's 3-0 Ashes triumph earlier this year.

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Things haven't started well for the 31-year-old, who was dismissed for four on a dream batting wicket in England's three-day match against a second-string WACA Chairman's XI.

England have two more warm-up games before the first Test against Australia in Brisbane, starting November 21.

Prior, who also dropped a catch in Perth, said he wasn't too concerned about his recent lack of runs.

"If I scored runs in the nets I reckon I would probably have one hundred 100s at the moment," Prior said.

"I've been hitting it brilliantly, moving well, and feeling really good.

"All you can do is keep doing what you have been for however many years and know that it's going to turn around.

"And that skinny faint nick, you will miss it. Or hopefully middle it more importantly.

"Come the Test matches — that's the important time to score. So if I went 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 in all these warm-up matches but got a hundred in the first test, I'd bite your arm off."

Should Prior suffer an injury or fall further out of form, Jonny Bairstow is on hand to replace him in the Test side.

Prior's lack of runs isn't the only concern for England.

Fringe pacemen Chris Tremlett, Boyd Rankin and Steven Finn all failed to fire in Perth, meaning the final spot in England's three-man seam attack is still up for grabs.

So, too, is the No. 6 batting position, with Gary Ballance (0) and Ben Stokes (4) failing in their first audition.

Ballance scored twin centuries for county side Yorkshire late last month, and Prior says the 23-year-old remained buoyant despite his golden duck in Perth.

"It's no great drama," Prior said.

"There's a lot of things that come into being an international cricketer. So you cant just judge a guy on walking to the wicket, nicking one and walking off again.

"He's hitting the ball brilliantly in the nets. He looks the part and he'll get another opportunity I am sure to get a score." Skipper Alastair Cook, batsman Kevin Pietersen, spinner Graeme Swann and paceman Stuart Broad are all set to return for England's four-day clash with Australia A in Hobart, starting Wednesday.

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LIVE BLOG: England v Wallabies

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THE Wallabies kick off their Spring Tour with a clash against England at Twickenham, and we'll have all the action covered.

Coach Ewen McKenzie has dropped another selection bombshell in the lead-up to the clash, stripping James Horwill of the captaincy and elevating Ben Mowen to Wallabies skipper.

LIVE STREAM: Watch the Wallabies' clash with England

MATCH CENTRE: Live scores, stats from Twickenham

In another shock move, flyhalf Quade Cooper has been appointed vice-captain.

Can Mowen, Cooper and co kick off the Spring Tour with a win and keep hopes of an historic Grand Slam alive?

Follow the action in our live blog early Sunday morning. Kick-off is 1.30am AEDT and we'll be live from 1am AEDT.

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Sharma blasts double ton

Top knock ... Sharma hit a double century. Source: AP

AN incredible double century to Rohit Sharma helped set an enormous target of 384 in the series-deciding one-day clash, to add insult to a hamstring injury suffered by Australia's Shane Watson.

Watson left the field for treatment on his hamstring after pulling up during his delivery stride to begin his sixth over.

It puts his Ashes campaign in serious doubt and India won't have helped the mood in the Australian camp by smashing 6-383 in the seventh and final ODI of their series in Bangalore.

Rohit Sharma led the way with a staggering 209, the second-highest individual score of all-time.

Sharma's incredible 158-ball innings included one 26-run over from Xavier Doherty and blew away Andrew Stauss's 158 for the highest individual score at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Follow all the action at Match Centre, featuring video replays and ball-by-ball coverage!

India's total also smashes Australia's 2-347 in 2003 as the biggest team total at the ground.

Ireland achieved the highest successful chase of 7-329 against England at the 2011 World Cup.

Sharma put on 112 for the opening wicket with Shikhar Dhawan (60) - their third century stand of the series - after being sent in to bat by Australian skipper George Bailey.

The entertaining partnership was broken by Xavier Doherty, who trapped Dhawan lbw in the second over after a brief rain delay.

India's frustrations were compounded soon after when the explosive Virat Kohli was run out for a duck.

Kohli was left fuming after he was sent back for a single by Sharma - who had initially set off for the run himself.

Fast-bowling allrounder Nathan Coulter-Nile, taking his place in the side for the rested Mitchell Johnson, collected the ball at mid-on and sent it back to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin to complete the runout.

Entering the match wicketless for the series, Doherty enjoyed his best game on tour - finishing with two important wickets, including an lbw of Suresh Raina (28).

India rebuilt through Sharma, who smashed 16 sixes and 12 fours, and put on 78 with Raina and 167 with skipper MS Dhoni (62).

Australia's task will be made all the more difficult without Watson, who roared to form with the bat with a destructive century in Nagpur on Wednesday.

Australia did superbly to limit the damage during the second powerplay, conceding just 22 runs in the five over period.

But two butter-fingered outfield efforts hurt dearly in the final overs.

Sharma was given a life by substitute fielder Moises Henriques, who let a simple boundary catch slip through his fingers for a six when the strokeplaying right-hander was on 120.

Then Dhoni was dropped by the usually sure-handed Glenn Maxwell when on 29.

Sharma made the Australians pay to the tune of 89 runs and Dhoni added 33 after his life, including a six which exited the stadium, as India piled on 151 runs in the final ten overs.

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