Can Australia urn an Ashes rethink?

Another Ashes series begins and the resting place of the urn is up for debate again. Well, it isn’t really, because it’s owned by the MCC, but that doesn’t stop the talk. The tiny trophy travelled to Australia last time and flew back to the museum at Lord’s as soon as Ricky Ponting’s men had claimed the series 5-0.

Ponting would like the urn to live in the country of the winners. “That will be good,” he said. "I know there was a lot made last time about how frail it was and whatever else. I'm sure with technology these days there's something to ensure that it's safe on a journey across the world.”

But Andrew Strauss wants it to remain at its current London address. “I think it’s at the home of cricket for a reason,” he said. “If it was possible to transport it around easily maybe it’s the right thing to do. If it isn’t then it’s quite a nice little glass box it sits in at Lord’s.” That’s Strauss’s home ground for Middlesex.