The money spinner

Thanks to their Ashes success in 2005, England's cricketers are now more attractive to sponsors than ever before and with that comes new-found wealth. At the top of the list are Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, but coming up on the blindside is Monty Panesar who has huge untapped potential. In The Times, Kevin Eason takes a look at what another Ashes victory could mean to the bank balances of England's leading players.

Another Ashes victory Down Under will only add to the astonishing new financial drawing power of England’s cricketing elite. Sponsors are queueing to put millions more into the England pot so that they can grab their slice of players who, for the first time in a generation, have become household names.