England team get out their sketchbooks for charity

While the Aussies frantically toil to find some form ahead of the third Ashes Test, the England team have been taking a rather more relaxed approach to their preparations this week.

In aid of three of English cricket's foremost charities, The Lord's Taverners, Chance to Shine and the PCA Benevolent Fund, the boys were tasked with drawing portraits of each other. Cricket fans can bid for the original portraits here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/CricketUnited/m.html

Here's what they come up with...

Best mates James Anderson and Graeme Swann show off their artistic flair.

England now dominant force in Ashes cricket

The Financial Times have put together some intriguing Ashes statistics this week and have come to the welcome conclusion that we are, after a 14-year wait, finally reentering a period of England dominance.

Take a look:

According to the FT: "This chart shows both countries’ Ashes performance since the contest began in the late 19th century. With an England Test match win scoring 1, an Australian win scores 0, and draws scored as 0.5, it shows the rolling 20-match total. That’s four Ashes series, more or less (some early series didn’t contain five matches)."

Source: http://blogs.ft.com/ftdata/2013/07/19/english-cricket-on-the-up/

Ashes to be streamed live on YouTube

The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has signed a deal with YouTube to stream the Ashes series live in 53 countries across Europe and Latin America on its channel.

The ECB's official YouTube channel will host the live streaming -  www.youtube.com/ecbcricket - as well as one-minute highlights of every session.

The YouTube channel offers highlights of every Test, ODI & T20, LV= County Championship and Yorkshire Bank 40 matches, as well as behind-the-scenes features and player interviews.

David Collier, Chief Executive of ECB, said: "This is the ECB's first venture into live streaming of cricket online, so is ground-breaking territory for us.

"We receive numerous requests from cricket fans in regions where there is no broadcast TV offering, and therefore we are delighted that many will be able to enjoy this Investec Ashes Series.

"It is also important that we play a role in the expansion of the game to countries that do not traditionally play nor watch the sport."

Steve Nuttall, Senior Director YouTube, said "Our partnership with the ECB expands the reach of the Investec Ashes Series to new countries and to YouTube's younger, connected audience. We're delighted to see more top quality cricket on YouTube."

The service begins on July 10 on Day 1 of the first Investec Ashes Test at Trent Bridge from 11:00 BST.

Full list of countries:

Europe

1.     Albania
2.     Andorra
3.     Austria
4.     Azerbaijan
5.     Belarus
6.     Belgium
7.     Bosnia & Herzegovina
8.     Bulgaria
9.     Croatia
10.   Cyprus
11.   Czech Republic
12.   Denmark
13.   Estonia
14.   Finland
15.   France
16.   Germany
17.   Greece
18.   Hungary
19.   Iceland
20.   Italy
21.   Kosovo
22.   Latvia
23.   Liechtenstein
24.   Lithuania
25.   Luxembourg
26.   Macedonia
27.   Malta
28.   Monaco
29.   Montenegro
30.   The Netherlands
31.   Norway
32.   Poland
33.   Portugal
34.   Romania
35.   San Marino
36.   Serbia
37.   Slovakia
38.   Slovenia
39.   Spain
40.   Sweden
41.   Switzerland
42.   Vatican City (Holy See)

Latin America

43.   Argentina
44.   Bolivia
45.   Brazil
46.   Chile
47.   Colombia
48.   Ecuador
49.   Paraguay
50.   Peru
51.   Suriname
52.   Uruguay
53.   Venezuela

ecb.co.uk

Cook and Strauss in all male SPA shortlist

England captain Andrew Strauss and vice-captain Alastair Cook have been shortlisted for the 2011 Sports Personality of the Year Award.

Strauss and Cook have been integral to a magnificent year for English cricket. A thumping victory in the Ashes down under was followed by an equally impressive 4-0 whitewash of India on home soil this summer, a result that meant England would begin 2012 as the world's no. 1 Test team.

After a poor run of form in the summer of 2010 Cook was a man under pressure, but with 766 runs in five Ashes Tests and 294 against India this summer - the sixth highest score by an Englishman and the best since Graham Gooch's 333 against the same apposition in 1990 - the elegant Essex opener proved he was here to stay.

He was duly rewarded with the One Day captaincy and went on to preside over series victories against Sri Lanka and India, all the while contributing handsomely at the top of the order. A 5-0 defeat in India at the back end of the summer reminded Cook that captaincy could not be taken for granted, but having overcome obstacles in his short career so far it would be no surprise if Cook returned with aplomb in 2012.

As Test captain however Andrew Strauss's success has almost been untainted this year. Unbeaten in their last nine series Strauss has given England the kind of stability and calm that they needed after the disastrous series in the West Indies in 2008.

In 2011 Strauss masterminded an astonishing Ashes victory in Australia and helped England to their first whitewash over India since 1974. In partnership with Andy Flower, Strauss has helped mould England into a prolific and highly professional unit who will once again be looking to assert their authority over world cricket when they face Pakistan and Sri Lanka this winter.