England won The Ashes series in 2009 by a margin of 2-1.
The Ashes series is an event, for which players put everything on the line. It is surely one of the most celebrated series in the history of the game. The size of the trophy does not do justice to the impact which the series has on the emotions. The five-match riveting series is set to be played on Australian soil this time. Australia will host England for The Ashes in November this year. The series will kick-off in Perth, and Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane will be the other four venues. But as riveting the cricket gets, there is a cost to it.
TBW
188/5
BVB
183/5
AMR
–
TBW
–
ABF
–
GAW
–
SLK
–
TKR
–
NDT
144/3
ODW
142/7
New Delhi Tigers beat Outer Delhi Warriors by 7 wickets
NDS
–
EDR
–
WDL
–
PD
–
NDSW
118/5
EDRW
116/4
North Delhi Strikers Women beat East Delhi Riders Women by 2 runs
AUST
88/7
BEL
136/6
Belgium beat Austria by 48 runs
AUST
115/7
BEL
153/2
Belgium beat Austria by 38 runs
AUST
136/3
BEL
131/6
Austria beat Belgium by 7 wickets
AUST
146/0
BEL
142/4
Austria beat Belgium by 10 wickets
ROM
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CZR
–
ROM
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CZR
–
ROM
–
CZR
–
ROM
–
CZR
–
AUST
–
BEL
–
AUST
–
BEL
–
ROM
195/4
CZR
170/7
Romania beat Czech Republic by 25 runs
ROM
157/8
CZR
159/6
Czech Republic beat Romania by 4 wickets
KHTC
147/6
VFB
149/4
VFB Fallersleben beat 1.Kieler HTC by 6 wickets
KSV
173/3
SGFD
137/6
KSV Kings beat SG Findorff by 36 runs
SGFD
152/8
VFB
116/8
SG Findorff beat VFB Fallersleben by 36 runs
SGFD
82/10
KSV
87/3
KSV Kings beat SG Findorff by 7 wickets
LAN
249/9
BB
253/5
Birmingham Bears beat Lancashire by 5 wickets
DER
345/10
SURR
388/4
Surrey beat Derbyshire by 43 runs
YOR
354/7
DURH
142/10
Yorkshire beat Durham by 212 runs
WOR
298/5
GLAM
297/7
Worcestershire beat Glamorgan by 5 wickets
NOT
291/10
GLO
343/7
Gloucestershire beat Nottinghamshire by 52 runs
PNG
205/10
DEN
223/8
Denmark beat Papua New Guinea by 18 runs
KWT
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JER
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IRE-W
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ITA-W
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NED-W
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GER-W
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BAN
–
IND
–
Match Called off
TBC
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TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
ALRS
151/7
TTS
152/3
Thrissur Titans beat Alleppey Ripples by 7 wickets
ARKS
164/9
ATR
165/6
Adani Trivandrum Royals beat Aries Kollam Sailors by 4 wickets
KBTS
–
ALRS
–
TTS
–
CAGS
–
HBT
173/2
GBM
172/7
Hubli Tigers beat Gulbarga Mystics by 8 wickets
SML
195/7
MGD
200/5
Mangalore Dragons Won by 5 runs
HBT
–
MYW
–
BNB
–
GBM
–
RNC
124/9
YSG
152/8
Yallah Shabab Giants beat Renaissance Challengers by 28 runs
MAT
139/5
MUT
136/5
Majees Titans beat Muscat Thunderers by 5 wickets
ROS
110/5
IAI
104/10
Royal Oman Stallions beat IAS Invincibles by 5 wickets
YSG
–
MUT
–
RNC
–
IAI
–
ROS
–
MAT
–
AUS
193/10
SA
277/10
South Africa beat Australia by 84 runs
IPS
189/9
GCT
211/8
Gold Coast beat Ipswich by 22 runs
TMB
271/5
NSBB
193/8
Toombul beat Northern Suburbs by 78 runs
SSC
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SGR
–
WYN
–
RLS
–
TMB
–
VLLY
–
SBB
–
IPS
–
WSS
–
UOQ
–
IPS
–
TMB
–
BIP
138/9
WEF
140/2
Welsh Fire won by 8 wickets
NOS
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OVI
–
LOS
–
SOB
–
BIP-W
114/9
WFW-W
150/3
Welsh Fire Women beat Birmingham Phoenix Women by 36 runs
NOS-W
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OIW-W
–
LSW-W
–
SBW-W
–
MR-A
134/9
AS-A
135/4
Adelaide Strikers Academy beat Melbourne Renegades Academy by 6 wickets
NTS
135/10
PSA
139/3
Perth Scorchers Academy beat Northern Territory Strike by 7 wickets
PS
144/9
NEP
143/7
Pakistan Shaheens won by 1 run
CHK
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HHA
–
ACOM
–
MS-A
–
BANA
–
AS-A
–
NOSK
114/6
KASS
110/10
Noida Super Kings beat Kanpur Superstars by 4 wickets
LUF
182/8
GOLS
183/3
Gorakhpur Lions beat Lucknow Falcons by 7 wickets
KARS
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MEMA
–
GOLS
–
KASS
–
Former England all-rounder Ravi Bopara has opened up about one such incident, which occurred during the Ashes series of 2009. In an interview with The Guardian, Bopara spoke about an the event, which took place after the first innings of the opening Test. Andy Flower, who is now the head coach for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), was then at England’s coaching helm. Bopara was unable to read a slower delivery from Mitchell Johnson, and was dismissed at a crucial juncture.
He said that after he was dismissed in the first innings, the head coach scheduled a meeting with Bopara in his hotel room. Till this point, things were absolutely fine. The England all-rounder was getting adjusted to the new role of batting at three, which is not easy for a player to do. Bopara expected the meeting to go down well, but was completely taken aback with the way things unfolded.
Bopara said that Flower did not mince his words at all. He went, “Do you know who’s batting No 3 for Australia? Ricky Ponting! And he’s just got 150!” To this, Bopara responded saying, “I’ll try and get a hundred in the second innings.”
“You better. Because we will end up losing the Test match because of you”, the reply flew back from Flower.
For a batter who has spent most of his career batting in the middle-order, it is extremely difficult to adapt to the repercussions of batting at No.3. To add to that, the conditions in England add to the difficulties for the top-order batters. The ball does a lot more than here, in the subcontinent and batters have to adapt quickly to stay at the crease. The Dukes ball used to do a lot more in those days, as compared to the controversies today. The recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy saw a lot of controversies with the ball, involving the manufacturer. One can imagine how challenging a task it might have been for Bopara.
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After his meeting with the head coach after the first innings of the first Test, Bopara went into a nutshell. In the subsequent innings, he registered scores of 27, 18, 23, 0 and 1. When he got a chance to play Test cricket again, he was unable to cross the fifty-run mark. He was coming on the back of three consecutive Test tons against the West Indies. Confidence can do a lot to a player, and lack of it can take everything away from the player.
“I know he didn’t mean that. It was his way of getting me going. But on reflection, I went into my shell. I thought that he doesn’t rate me. And after that, I was just nowhere for the rest of the series. I was so nervous about batting, and I just felt like eyes were staring at me”, said Bopara, reflecting on his series after the first Test.
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