It was at Cardiff where England and Australia played out a thrilling draw in the 2009 Ashes opener as the hosts last-wicket pair of James Anderson (right) and Monty Panesar held out to deny the tourists victory.

AFP/London


England will be hoping history repeats itself when their bid to regain the Ashes next year starts in Cardiff. Yesterday saw the England and Wales Cricket Board announce the international schedule for its 2015 home season.
And it was the choice of the Welsh capital ground to stage the first Test against Australia, starting on July 8, that was arguably the most eye-catching decision. England were whitewashed 5-0 by their oldest foes in Australia during the 2013/14 Ashes, a reverse which led Andy Flower to stand down as team coach and be replaced by Peter Moores.
It was at Cardiff where England and Australia played out a thrilling draw in the 2009 Ashes opener as the hosts last-wicket pair of James Anderson and Monty Panesar held out to deny the tourists victory. That result sent England on their way to a 2-1 series win after a 5-0 drubbing ‘Down Under’ in 2006/07 and the first of three consecutive Ashes campaign triumphs.
The remainder of the 2015 Ashes will see Tests played at Lord’s, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge and The Oval. Last year, England triumphed 3-0 on home soil before shortly afterwards surrendering the Ashes in tame fashion in the return series.
Former captain Michael Vaughan has questioned the allocation of venues, particularly Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Cardiff lost the right to host the West Indies in 2012 due to Glamorgan’s inability to meet the deadline for the payment of the staging fee for a preceding fixture, which was marred by plenty of rain, with Sri Lanka.
“Cardiff is an okay venue. I am just surprised they kept their Ashes status after handing back the West Indies Test in 2012,” tweeted Vaughan.
“My belief is that the coach, captain, management should choose the venues they feel give them the best chance of winning the Ashes.”
An ECB spokesman, meanwhile, insisted the team management, not the players, are consulted about the venue choices - and the order of the itinerary.
“The venues are decided by the Major Match Group, which works independently of the ECB. They use a balanced scorecard, and consider a variety of factors, like operational ability, what the venues do for the community, geography. Cardiff’s staging of the 2009 Ashes opening Test was a great success,” said the spokesperson

Ireland matches
Australia will begin the one-day leg of their tour against Ireland on August 27, with England also due to face the Irish—one of the world’s leading non-Test nations—on a date still to be confirmed. “We are thrilled to welcome both England and Australia to Ireland once again,” said Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom.
“Although opportunities to find space in the Future Tours Programme are rare against the world’s leading teams, it is apparent that Cricket Australia and the ECB are committed to ensuring that the top Associates, like Scotland and Ireland, have a chance to test themselves against the best and to help us to improve.”
Prior to the Australia series, England will face New Zealand in Test and one-day series. Last year, England won a home two-Test series against New Zealand 2-0 and, as the was the case in 2013, both Tests in next year’s series will take place at Lord’s and Headingley.  
“Next summer promises to be a hugely exciting international season with England’s bid to regain the Ashes set to be one of the major highlights of the sporting year,” said ECB chief executive David Collier. “We’re also delighted to be hosting New Zealand again across all three formats of the international game.”