Mark Nicholas enters his fourth summer as presenter of ‘Cricket on Five’. The former Hampshire captain and one-time Royal Television Society Sports Presenter of the Year has commentated on Test series all over world. Cricketing legend Geoffrey Boycott scored 22 centuries and over 8,000 runs in his 20-year career with England. Former Middlesex and Durham bowler Simon Hughes is a leading cricket analyst and writer.
Who will be the key player of the series for England and why?
Mark Nicholas: Kevin Pietersen. The one man able to counter-attack and bruise the Aussies. Initiative and momentum may depend on his batting.
Geoffrey Boycott: Kevin Pietersen. England need to make runs consistently. Good totals will give their bowlers the chance to bowl Australia out twice.
Simon Hughes: James Anderson. He has a rare ability to get to good players out.
Who will be the key player for Australia?
MN: Ricky Ponting. The master of the set-up of a Test match, but less dangerous of late as he focuses on his leadership of a new team.
GB: Mitchell Johnson. Their best bowler, at the top of his game. An excellent player and will score priceless lower-order runs.
SH: Ricky Ponting. If he fails, he could drag the rest of the Australians down with him.
Which is your favourite Ashes match of all time?
MN: Two stick out for me. Brisbane in the 1974-5 series. The first sight of Thomson and Lillee versus Tony Greig. And Trent Bridge in 2005, for the extremes of emotion and the realisation that the Ashes truly could be won.
GB: In 1970-71, the third Test at Sydney. England won. I batted as well as I have ever done on a result pitch and John Snow got seven for 40.
SH: Edgbaston in 2005. Test cricket played at 100mph – and a brilliant finish.
And your favourite Ashes ground?
MN: Sydney and Edgbaston.
GB: Adelaide. Beautiful setting. It looks and feels like a cricket ground and not a stadium.
SH: Lord’s. The home of cricket – and I am a former Middlesex man.
What is your greatest Ashes moment?
MN: Ian Botham taking five for one at Edgbaston in 1981 and Geraint Jones catching Kasprowicz at Edgbaston in 2005.
GB: My 100th [first-class] hundred at Leeds in 1977. England won in front of my home supporters.
SH: Shane Warne’s delivery to Mike Gatting at Old Trafford in 1993. It heralded the career of a guy who dominated the Ashes and revitalised spin bowling.
Should England pick Flintoff and Vaughan?
MN: Flintoff is a calculated risk. He will carry the crowd with him. Vaughan is a gamble – unless he makes a heap of county runs.
GB: Flintoff if fit is not a gamble or a calculated risk. A fine bowler, always has been. Big heart and plenty of fire in his belly. Vaughan would be a huge gamble. He has not scored runs for a year.
SH: Vaughan won’t make it. Flintoff is still important but is past his best.
What, specifically, do England need to do to win?
MN: Bat well, bowl tight and catch well.
GB: Bat well under pressure, bowl their best, catch catches and win the defining moments of games.
SH: Score consistently over 400.
Who will win and by what margin?
MN: No idea. So let’s say 2-2 and Australia therefore retain the Ashes.
GB: A draw, so Australia keep the Ashes.
SH: Australia 2-1 in a tight and – hopefully – exciting series.
Richie Benaud will be joining ‘Cricket on Five’ for a series of special ‘Saturday at the Test’ reports. What is his legacy to cricket broadcasting?
MN: Enthusiasm, pastoral care and a uniquely simple and atmospheric way of telling the story as it unfolds.
GB: Incisive observations. Wonderful knowledge. Economy of words. He is the most liked and respected figure in cricket commentating. An icon.
SH: Keeping it beautifully simple and succinct but with a glint in his eye.
