Australia faces a long, dusty fight for survival at The Oval: Roebuck

September 25th, 2009 LONDON - The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has released the itinerary for Pakistan's 'home' series against Australia which is to be played in England in 2010. The ECB has also announced the dates of the home Test and one-day series which the English team is scheduled to play against Bangladesh, Australia and Pakistan next year.

August 25th, 2009 SYDNEY - Former Australian cricketer and now a newspaper columnist Peter Roebuck has said that England deserved to win the Ashes, as they had the better-balanced side, and blamed the Australian selectors for sending an unbalanced squad lacking back-up in vital areas to a series of such high stature. "Clear errors of judgment were made in the make-up of the side.

August 24th, 2009 SYDNEY - Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting is unlikely to be evicted, nor is he likely to step aside after becoming only the second skipper from Down Under to lose back-to-back Ashes series in England, feels cricket columnist Peter Roebuck. "This is not the end of Ponting's captaincy.

August 23rd, 2009 LONDON - Australian opener Simon Katich, who top scored for his side in the first innings of the Oval Test (50) and is batting in the second innings with 42, admitted on Saturday that the visitors have an uphill task before them, but added that the will to fight to the end is still there. ''You never know, you just have to keep believing and keep fighting.

August 23rd, 2009 SYDNEY - Noted cricket columnist Peter Roebuck believes Australia's weaknesses have been brutally exposed in the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval and the urn seems destined to change hands for the third time in three series. While accepting that two dreadful umpiring decisions had gone against Australia in the game, he said: "Plain and simple the visitors were blown apart by the late movement unleashed by a lanky speedster (Stuart Broad) prepared to attack the sticks.

August 22nd, 2009 LONDON - Australian opener Simon Katich has predicted a fierce Australian fight back in the Ashes decider after England's Stuart Broad blitzed the touring side's batting line-up at The Oval. Some 23 years after his father Chris batted England to victory in the 1986-87 Ashes series, Stuart put his side on track for more glory by capturing 5-19 in 47 balls in a superb 12-over spell in London.

August 13th, 2009 LONDON - Former pace legend Jeff Thompson has said that England has no chance of winning the Ashes, because Australia no longer fears Andrew Flintoff. "Bringing Flintoff back for the final Test at The Oval next week won't fool our blokes.

August 11th, 2009 SYDNEY - Noted cricket columnist Peter Roebuck believes that with Ricky Ponting at the helm, the Australian cricket team "is in good hands. However, he says that Ponting still lacks intuition, but possess the ability to change tack.

August 8th, 2009 SYDNEY - Australia's fast bowler Brett Lee should take a lesson from England all rounder Andrew Flintoff, and think about dignified retirement from Test cricket, according to a former cricketer and renowned newspaper columnist. "Lee lost pace and even his temper as his captain looked elsewhere for wickets.

August 1st, 2009 SYDNEY - Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has become his country's highest scorer in Test cricket, but according to cricket columnist Peter Roebuck, he will always be regarded as the second-best No.3 Australia has produced. "Of course, it is absurd to put him (Ponting) or anyone else alongside Don Bradman, but that has been his fate, As a result, he tends to be denied some of the acclaim he deserves.

July 30th, 2009 SYDNEY - Neither the pitch nor the weather are likely to smile upon Australia and England during the third Ashes Test being played at Edgbaston, Warwickshire from Thursday. Steve Rouse, the curator at Edgbaston, believes that a draw is the likeliest outcome because of the endless rain.

July 27th, 2009 LONDON - Australia should be cautious about including all-rounder Shane Watson in their squad for the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston in place of out of form opener Phillip Hughes, believes cricket columnist Peter Roebuck. While admitting that the selectors do not have many options, Roebuck says in an article for the Sydney Morning Herald that Watson, is really an all-rounder who bats in the middle order.

July 22nd, 2009 SYDNEY - Noted cricket columnist Peter Roebuck does not believe the present Australian bowling attack can win a Test match in England. In an article for the Sydney Morning Herald, he says that Australia first need to accept that Mitchell Johnson is not worth his place in a four-pronged attack.

July 14th, 2009 SYDNEY - Noted cricket columnist Peter Roebuck feels that Australia played exceptionally well in Cardiff and were denied victory only by "a soporific surface and resistance from sturdy opponents with a short backlift and a stubborn streak." "Australia played impressively and go to Lord's with high hopes. Brett Lee is recovering, and the ball was reverse swinging.

July 4th, 2009 SYDNEY - This year's Ashes series between Australia and England promises to be a ripper because the two sides possess both experience and freshness to deliver what is asked of them, feels noted cricket columnist Peter Roebuck. According to Roebuck, the general verdict is that the series is too close to call.