Catch them weary

Come summer 2009 and England will have their best chance of reclaiming the Ashes when a jaded bunch of Australians land in the country, writes Scyld Berry in the Sunday Telegraph. He writes that Australia are already showing signs of cracking at the seams, after they were reduced to 18 for 5 against West Indies at Sabina Park some months back.

Their first masters, the Australian board, have drawn up a schedule which is as crazy as anything that England's board have ever conceived – and this is saying something. Thanks partly to another accident, the postponement of the Champions Trophy, England are now enjoying a nice break before late October, and have another month off before going to the West Indies in late January: the right sort of place to tune up for an Ashes series which is sure to be dominated by pace.