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Opener Simon Katich has credited his maiden Ashes century to former , who he said, gave him the time and opportunity to come up with an impressive batting display.

Katich’s century, which helped him erase bitter memories of 2005, came on the second day of the first Ashes Test against England before he was plumb off James Anderson, when Australia was on run to chase the first innings target of 435.

 The 33-year-old left hander said he owe a lot to Simpson, who he believes, has made him a more confident player with the support and time the former skipper handed him.

 ”Coming into the series was huge for me — you can’t hide from the past, and there’s nowhere to hide in Test cricket,” Katich said. ”The last time around I wasn’t playing very well and I struggled to hit the ball straight. ”I owe a huge amount to Bob Simpson, who gave me the time of day when I got dropped four years ago and was wondering if I would get back. ”His help and support has been enormous. I’m always going to be grateful for that. His help, technically, turned me into a more confident player,” the opener was quoted as saying by ‘The Australian’.

A veteran of 33 Tests and 45 ODIs, Katich savoured the sweetest moment of his career when he reached triple figures by hooking Andrew Flintoff for a single to fine leg. The Yorkshire batsman has also hit six centuries in 16 Tests, after he won back his baggy green cap in the West Indies last year.

 ”Having played the last 12 months on the trot, I’ve gained confidence from every Test I’ve managed to string together,” he said. ”Batting at the top of the order has probably helped me — that’s where I’ve played most of my first-class career. ”When I did get my chance I jumped at it, because that’s where I’ve been most comfortable. In the past 12 months I have felt I’ve got a role to play in this team, given that we’ve lost so many experienced players in the last three or four years, a lot of greats of Australian cricket. ”As an experienced player with a lot of young guys coming into the team, I realise I’ve got a fair bit to offer,” the batsman added.

Australia leads England by 44 runs after day three of the first Ashes cricket Test in Cardiff.

Australia reached 479-5 at stumps, with Marcus North on 54 and Brad Haddin on 4. Play was earlier halted for two hours by rain and, after a brief resumption in which England’s Stuart Broad took a wicket, was then stopped by bad light.

Captain Ricky Ponting scored 150 and Simon Katich had 122 to lead Australia’s pursuit of England’s first innings total of 435. Michael Clarke and North then combined for 143 runs as the visitor took the lead prior to tea.

Australia was 463-4 at the first weather delay and Clarke was caught behind by Matt Prior on 83 when play resumed. The poor light brought an end to the day’s action two overs later.

VENUE:

Cardiff will stage its first Test. Capacity: 16,000.

CAPTAINS:Australia: Ricky Ponting, 34. Right-hand batsman; 131 Tests, 10,960 runs at 56.20. A quick-footed free-scoring batsman in the best Australian tradition who has been rebuilding his side after the loss of several great players. England: Andrew Strauss, 32. Left-hand opening batsman; 62 Tests, 4,792 runs at 43.96. After a brief period in the wilderness, Strauss returned to the team last year. Subsequently he has been England’s most prolific batsman.

KEY PLAYERS:Mitchell Johnson (Aus), 27: Intimidatingly quick and increasingly hostile, Johnson has become the complete package as a left-arm fast bowler by adding a late inswinger to his repertoire. He may also be the world’s next great all-rounder after averaging 85 in South Africa this year, including a first Test hundred. Kevin Pietersen (Eng), 28: The batsman Australia fear the most. Has 963 runs at 53.50 in 10 Tests against the old enemy. His fearlessness and range of strokes make him formidable.

WEATHER FORECAST:Unsettled with showers

ODDS:England 2/1, Australia 7/4, draw 6/4

SQUADS:Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, Phillip Hughes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Graham Manou, Andrew McDonald, Marcus North, Peter Siddle.

England: Andrew Strauss (captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann.
Umpires: Billy Doctrove (West Indies) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan) Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)

There’s not going to be any massive Churchillian speeches from me. The key to the series is how you handle those pressure moments and there are going to be plenty of them in these games.
   All 11 of them have shown before that they can handle those situations. An Ashes series is slightly different and we’ve only got probably half our team that have played in an Ashes series before. But the guys that have come in have an opportunity to show they can do it in an Ashes series and I’ve got very few concerns in my own head that there are any weak links and that’s encouraging.
   Freddie has settled in brilliantly and is very motivated to play well. It’s great to see him with the bit between his teeth — he feels as though he has some unfinished business.
   Monty is a very good Test bowler. There is something about being back in the England fold that switches on a light for him. I am very happy with where he is.
   We know the type of cricket we need to play against Australia: we need to go toe to toe with them and look them in the eye.
   They have lost a few players with a bit of aura about them. It might not be as intimidating as it used to be but we are ready for some hard cricket.
   The guys are chomping at the bit to get out there and play now. We have to handle the pressure well and play well, and if we do that we have the raw material to win the Test match.

Less than 48 hours before the first Test, the big news — and bad news if you support Australia — is the injury to Brett Lee. A side strain will keep him out of the first Test. This is hugely disappointing for Brett, who has worked so hard on his fitness over the last year. He also bowled really well in our warm-up game, which makes the loss even more unfortunate.
Luckily, we have five pace bowlers in the side who know that they deserve to be in the playing eleven. We have always prided ourselves on our bench strength and I am confident that we have good cover for this unfortunate setback. That said, it would be great to have Brett up and running for the second Test, and we will be monitoring his progress closely.
After weeks of unbelievable hype and build-up, it will be a relief for us to take the field for the first Test, starting Wednesday. We have been in England for a month now, and it would be safe to say that I have never been better prepared for a Test series. It’s been a long stint, but a beneficial one for the younger guys in the squad. In fact, barring five players, the rest of the guys are on their first Ashes tour, so the senior pros have been pretty serious about talking these youngsters through what to expect in the coming weeks.
   Many experts feel that the Australians are a bit low on experience, because many in the squad have made their debut in the last 12 to 18 months. However, none of these guys have put a foot wrong since making their Test debut, and I am pretty confident that they will do well in England as well.
   Phil Hughes, our diminutive, unorthodox opener, scored three sensational centuries against South Africa, proving that he is a player to look out for. He is pretty similar in build and style to Gautam Gambhir — strong off the backfoot and possessing a great ability to play the ball square of the wicket. He is a very exciting player to have at the top of the order, and if he masters conditions in England, he can be a major factor in the outcome of this series.
   There is also Andrew Mac-Donald, a miserly bowler who is no slouch with the bat, having scored quite a few centuries in his last season of domestic cricket in Australia. All these guys were exceptional in South Africa, and played major roles in our series win there.
   Marcus North is another of the supposedly raw, inexperienced players in the squad. He too had a fantastic debut, with a century in Johannesburg. He captains Western Australia, has played a lot of county cricket in England and is an unflappable character who handles a crisis situation really well. His unbeaten 98 last week shows that he is in good touch, which is also a good sign ahead of the first Test.
   Another significant plus from our warm-up game was the way Michael Hussey played. Few of us have as much experience of English conditions as Hussey, and few relish these conditions more. To see him middling the ball so beautifully in Worcester gave us a lot of confidence.
   If I look at the England side, I would say that we are pretty evenly matched. Ian Chappell feels that England have a better bowling side, and while I would not deny the fact that James Anderson, Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad and Graham Onions form a pretty handy attack, I would advise everybody to see how both teams progress before forming an opinion.
   A lot has been made of John Buchanan’s two-week stint in England but I am not particularly fussed about that. I gather it was more about the overall structure of cricket here.
   While I am the one who’s called Punter, it was always Shane Warne and Glenn Mc-Grath who predicted series scorelines even before a ball was bowled! I would not be as adventurous, and right now all I can say is that the first Test will be crucial to the fate of the series.
   If we are able to execute our plans well and impose ourselves on the hosts in Cardiff itself, things will go according to plan. Our plan, of course, is to retain the Ashes.

The most famous of all cricket battles begins in Cardiff, Wales, with England desperate to regain the Ashes from Australia. Follow the action with our interactive Website.

Last time the two teams went head-to-head, Australia, on home soil, sent a host of Test champions off in style as they secured a 5-0 series whitewash.

Both are very different outfits this time around, and the home side is hungry to repeat the stunning success of 2005. Can Andrew Strauss and co. do the job? Or will Ricky Ponting lead his young Australia troops to victory?

Cardiff (Wales), July 7 (ANI): With a day to go before the first Ashes Test against Australia to be played here, fiery batsman, and 2005 Ashes hero Kevin Pietersen has said that England can win the Test and the series even if he has a bad run.

Kevin Peterson

“I think you guys (media) make the weight of anticipation a lot greater than it actually is. If you (Australia) get me out cheaply or if I have a bad series, England can still win,” The Independent quoted KP as telling reporters, cameramen, hangers-on and the Australians who were practicing on the other side of the drapes.

“In the dressing room I’m looking forward to it as much as anyone else. There’s no great anticipation on me in the England dressing room. I know and we all know that if you look at the stats from the last 12 months, we’ve all got runs, so I don’t think that it’s as big an issue as everyone says. I have self-confidence that the guys in the dressing room will perform,” he added.

He also suggested that he was no more than a bit-part player in the proceedings and expected nothing of himself in the next few weeks.

“There is a tension in the competition between the two countries. As a cricketer you perceptibly know what’s going on and you understand the rivalry. But to try to make it out as something that’s bigger than it is, you can hurt yourself and get yourself into a bit of a tizz, you can add too much weight to yourself,” Pietersen said.

“You can definitely turn it into something it’s not. At the end of the day it’s a game of cricket between two teams who want to win – the same as if we play South Africa or India. The simpler you try to keep each game, each session, each ball, the more prepared you are,” he added.

Pietersen made his Test debut in the first Test at Lord’s in 2005, becoming the 626th player to represent England. He was the highest scorer in the 2005 Ashes, hitting an imperious 473 runs from just 663 balls, for a batting average of 52.55.

His highest score in an Ashes Test is 158, achieved in the crucial fifth Test at The Oval in 2005 and also in the second Test in 2006-07.

In the 2006-07 series, despite England suffering a 5-0 whitewash, Pietersen hit 490 runs, the second highest total of the series. (ANI)

Kevin Pietersen considers England’s mastery of reverse-swing will encourage the to Ashes glory just as it did four years ago on home soil.

Pietersen, declining Australia great Shane Warne’s assert that England are a “one-man team” who cannot win without their batting star, said pace bowling detained the key to England’s Ashes hopes.

In 2005 the ‘Fab Four’ of Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Simon Jones dentd a strong Australia top-order, with much of their success down to the mastery of reverse swing.

Although, with Jones injured, Hoggard long since dropped and Harmison out of favour, only Flintoff out of that quartet is on course to start in next week’s first Test in Cardiff, Pietersen is backing the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad to cause Australia problems.

The current dry and hot conditions in England offer an environment favorable to reverse-swing and Pietersen, speaking at Edgbaston on Monday, said: “I am sure the Australians are possibly hoping that the weather doesn’t stay like this – because Anderson, Broad, Flintoff bowling reverse swing … I wouldn’t want to be facing that.

“We’re going to be really tough to play against,” added Pietersen ahead of the start of England’s warm-up match here against Warwickshire, which gets underway on Wednesday.

“If batters do overcome our reverse-swing, I look forward to looking at them. It will take some serious batting against those bowlers, all at 90mph reverse-swinging it both ways.

As for the latest comment by the now Test retired leg-spinner Warne, his former captain at Hampshire, Pietersen said: “It’s a praise coming from a legend of the game. But England are certainly not a one-man team.

“We’ve got (Andrew) Strauss who scored so many hundreds recently; Alastair Cook has also scored hundreds in the last six months; (Paul) Collingwood the same, (Ravi) Bopara three in his last three Test innings.

“I’ve scored a few; Flintoff has come back into the team; Matty Prior’s batting has been outstanding.

“That’s without even talking about our bowlers.”

Ashes 2009 Test Series

1st Test: Wednesday 8 July – Sunday 12 July (Cardiff)

2nd Test: Thursday 16 July – Monday 20 July (Lords)

3rd Test: Thursday 30 July – Monday 3 August (Edgbaston)

4th Test: Friday 7 August – Tuesday 11 August (Headingley)

5th Test: Thursday 20 August – Monday 24 August (The Oval)

There will also be a one-day series between the sides and details of the dates are expected to be announced at the end of April.

How is the England’s 16-man training squad, named today, shaping up for the challenge of facing Australia in the Ashes this summer?

England Team in Ashes series

Andrew Strauss
The England Test captain has had the chance to take a break since the West Indies Test series playing two Championship matches for Middlesex with limited success. His highest score? The 97 against Essex a month ago.

Alastair Cook
Another England player to spend a month away from the international scene. England’s openers should at least be refreshed when the Ashes begins. Cook has had a handful of Twenty20 matches for Essex, with a top score of 80, as well as two championship outings with moderate returns since his hundred against the West Indies at the Riverside.

Kevin Pietersen
There are no concerns about Pietersen’s form (there haven’t been really since he arrived on the scene) but KP’s Achilles heel is an apt injury for a team so reliant on his runs. Pietersen will be nursed through the Ashes but the likelihood of him appearing in all five Tests appears remote.

Paul Collingwood
His form during the World Twenty20 was poor – he managed 63 runs from five innings – as once again his batting crumbled under the burden of captaincy. Collingwood has enjoyed his best run in the Test side with three hundreds in his last 12 innings but will be the most vulnerable of England’s middle order.

Matt Prior
Has seen James Foster enjoy plenty of acclaim for wicket-keeping skills during the World Twenty20 but Prior is the number one choice for the Test side. Has been in good form for Sussex – he averages over 50 in the championship – but has not kept wicket due to the hand injury he sustained against the West Indies.

Andrew Flintoff
Freddie is back and a nation sleeps easier. Flintoff has slipped easily into the groove with the ball taking six wickets in his first match back for Lancashire and several county batsmen are nursing bruised ribs and fingers. As for runs, well, Flintoff made a fifty against Hampshire but has not scored a century in any form of cricket since the Trent Bridge Test of 2005.

Graeme Swann
Swann took five wickets and bowled tidily during the World Twenty20 while showing the passion for playing for his country that endears him to England supporters. Swann will play at Cardiff. The question mark hangs over the identity of his spin partner.

Stuart Broad
Despite his last over meltdown against the Dutch, Broad showed further evidence of the top class international cricketer that lurks within. His bowling, particularly the variety he has added to his game, makes him a potential Ashes star and he averaged 18 during the West Indies walkover.

James Anderson
Anderson had a mixed World Twenty20. When he bowled well – against India and Pakistan – England won. When he bowled badly – West Indies – they lost. Anderson’s ability to swing the ball, evidenced by the near unplayable spell against the West Indies at the Riverside – is genuinely feared and respected by the Australians.

Ryan Sidebottom
Sidebottom was the third member of England’s trio of seamers that they built their strategy around during the World Twenty20. It remains to be seen if Sidebottom’s fitness is up to Test match standard. The three-day match against Warwickshire will be a key gauge but sources suggest the England management are quietly confident Sidebottom will be ready.

Monty Panesar
Tough times for Monty. Before Northamptonshire’s match against Glamorgan Panesar had taken just six wickets this season. His championship average stands at a scarcely believable 86.66 and the promotion of Adil Rashid represents a real threat to Panesar’s place behind Swann as England’s second spinner. All eyes will be on Monty when he plays against Warwickshire.

Adil Rashid
The Yorkshire leg spinner is on roll thanks to Twenty20. He performed well during the World T20 showing guts and guile to get wickets at key times for England impressing none other than Shane Warne.

Tim Bresnan
Bresnan has ticked along quietly since the West Indies series with five wickets in three championship innings for Yorkshire. Bresnan will be named in the expanded Ashes training squad but Sidebottom’s return will push him off the scene.

Graham Onions
Onions is the country’s leading wicket-taker with 32 this season, largely made up of the 20 he took against the West Indies. His ability to get bowl close to the stumps and get bowleds, lbws and caught behind wickets will be key against the Aussies.

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Missing out

Michael Vaughan
Out of the side and mulling his future after being left out. He has a top score of 43 from eight championship innings.

Steve Harmison
Lions call up gives him a chance. Harmison has 28 first-class wickets this season at a very reasonable 18 apiece and even managed to extract life out of the dead Edgbaston pitch this week with a five-for against Warwickshire. Is Harmison peaking at the right time? We will find otu more when he bowls at the Aussies for England’s Lions team at Edgbaston, July 1-3.

Ian Bell
Named captain of the Lions side Bell averages in the 80s for championship cricket but has more or less written off his Ashes chances. The flat tracks at Edgbaston may provide false returns but Bell has done more than any other fringe batsman to maintain consistent form. He scored 79 in the first innings of the current championship match against Durham.