England have played their final warm up game, established their first choice squad and are readily awaiting what promises to be one of the most anticipated Ashes series of recent years. If is, perhaps, time to look at just who makes up that Ashes squad.

Andrew Strauss When England last won the Ashes in Australia the side was led by the prolific Middlesex batsman, Mike Gatting. The selectors will hope that the trick which worked in 1986/7 will repeat itself in 2010/11. A plethora of series wins in both first class and 50 over cricket Strauss will look to cement his position as a skipper of the very highest order with a victory in Australia, a feat countless numbers of England players failed to reach. He will look to continue the consistent successes he has had with the bat since taking over as captain in 2009. With two centuries in the three warm up games Strauss looks set to be the main target for the Australian bowling attack.


James Anderson The Burnley born swing bowler has come on leaps and bounds since the previous tour of Australia. Then on the peripheries of the side he as established himself as the leader of the attack. Almost unplayable when the ball swings his game has also improved when the ball stops moving. How he utilises the Kookaburra ball will be the defining point of his bowling career. He has every chance of success however if he fails and an Australian battling unit with some phenomenal talent is able to get on top of him it may be a very long winter for Anderson.


Ian Bell Arguably the most stylish batsman in the England line up Bell has real talent. He has has problems in displaying this at the highest level. However the Ian Bell who has traveled down under is different to the batsman of the previous tour. Despite an injury early in the English summer Bell has come out fighting, driving Warwickshire to a limited overs title and top flight championship safety he has really come of age as a batsman. If he can continue this form (and an impressive 192 against Australia A suggest he may) he will have done what has alluded him thus far, he will have established him as a senior, world-class test batsman. He has a lot to prove and is well placed to do it.



Tim Bresnan After a shaky start to his international career Bresnan has been in and out of the national side and will, almost certainly not make the XI for Brisbane. A timely 36 and four second innings wickets in the final warm up game will stand the Yorkshireman in good stead. However with the lack of further opportunity to shine and a general reluctance t0 drop a batsman and play a fifth bowler (Bresnan's real place in a side) it seems that only injury or a series of heavy defeats will allow him to break into the first team.



Stuart Broad Since making his test debut in December 2007 Broad has established himself as a certainty on the England team sheet, a position he cemented with a maiden first class hundred against Pakistan in August. He has proved his ability to perform under pressure and will hope to replicate his father's ability to punish an Australian side in their own back yard this winter.



Paul Collingwood The Mr. Dependable of English cricket showed last time around that he is no slouch with the bat. An imperious 206 at Adelaide will be a target again and he may well need to score heavily to ensure his place. If, for a number of reason, England decide to include an extra bowler Collingwood may well be squeezed out.



Alistair Cook The designated vice captain has had his share of problems recently, but England have held firm and showed faith in the Essex opener. An undefeated 111 against South Australia certainly eased some existing fears, however he will be hoping that nelson does not strike and leave him on the sidelines. Like Bell he has much to prove this winter, especially if the England management continues to view Cook as a future skipper.



Steven Davies The keeper-batsman has had a good season with his new county, Surrey however probably not good enough to get a spot in the test side. Only injury will grant the 24 year old his test cap. A winter of carrying the drinks will be a disappointment, although his inclusion in the squad is a further indicator of a bright future.

Steven Finn A year ago the inclusion of the Middlesex quick in the Ashes squad, let alone the line up for the first test would have raised some eyebrows. However such is the promise of the young bowler that an impressive 2010 season for county and country means that Finn has a pivotal role to play. The young seamer will almost certainly be targeted by the Australian side and the winter will prove to be a learning curve for Finn.

Eoin Morgan The Irishman is, of course, best known for his improvisation in the limited overs game and it is likely to be in this format he will make his contribution with the bat this winter.

Monty Panesar A summer with Sussex has allowed Panesar to re-discover some of the form which has made him an instantly recognisable figure. It is pleasing to see that he has not been forgotten by the national selectors, although failing a potentially disastrous injury to off spinner Graeme Swann he is likely to spend his summer with his feet up on the balcony. He may make an appearance if two spinners are picked but, despite strides in his fielding, a weakness with the bat means the cautious side are unlikely to drop a batsman and cannot afford to drop a seamer.

Kevin Pietersen The South African batsman has had a troubled couple of months. Two short spells in domestic cricket have not wholly removed the fears on form and Pietersen is still in need of runs. However such is his talent one big innings can spark a tremendous run of form. Pietersen is a big game player and they don't come any bigger than an Ashes test in Australia - feeding off that a fruitful series is well within his reach.

Matthew Prior The Sussex wicketkeeper has shown great improvement in his game and is a consistent, reliable presence in the England line up. He will look to continue his reliability behind the stumps and add a real presence in the lower order.

Graeme Swann The top spinner in world cricket was very much a series winner for England last time the side came up against Australia and he remains a great worry for the home side. Attempts to target Swann have thus far proved unfruitful. If that state of affairs continues a new tactic is needed as, such is the talent to this extraordinary cricketer, the threat he poses must be addressed.

Chris Tremlett The tall, hit the deck bowler has a lot to offer. If given the chance to play this winter Tremlett will look to change the impression of him as a hot/cold bowler unable to fully utilise his clear talent. If England do have an injury, rather than adding a seamer, he is likely to edge Bresnan out of the running for the spot.

Jonathan Trott Cementing his place as number three Trott will look to add to the phenomenal start he had to his Ashes career. One appearance which was topped by a match saving second innings century is a great start, but not the end of what this South African batsman has to offer. If Trott gets his head down he can demonstrate this easily.

Why wear the Poppy?

As the BBC has been heralding for a number of weeks Armistice Day is fast approaching. The Poppy Appeal is in full swing and, already in shops up and down the country, the paper flowers and collecting tins will be on out streets again in the coming days. The poppy has become a universally accepted emblem, instantly recognisable. But what does it mean? Why and in what spirit do we wear the poppy?

Indeed it is so recognisable that is has become 'black boxed', merely a reminder of the time of year. It exists, we notice it, acknowledge it, buy it. But do we really think about what it means? This is highlighted by the sickening way in which, this year the emblem of ultimate sacrifice has been subverted. Available now are crystal encrusted poppies, sported most notably by the judges on ITV's X Factor. The £84.99 price tag is certainly a boost to the good work of the Royal British Legion, however as an emblem it is unequivocally inappropriate. The poppy was never intended as a fashion statement. With this it has become one. The donation is important, but the sober dignity of the simple traditional poppy worn, without further adornment, almost universally is far more important as a symbol of remembrance and determination to avert warfare.

The origins of the symbol are, of course well known. Blossoming in the disturbed earth of France and Flanders as a result of the horrors of the trench warfare of the Great War the spirit is encapsulated so movingly in John McCrae's In Flanders Fields. But where is this spirit?

The poppy became an emblem for a generation who had served in that First World War, of an unspeakable nightmare, the true extent of which remained a secret to those who had witnessed it from both sides. The old soldier's song And when they ask us, used so powerfully in the anti-war piece Oh, What a Lovely War! says it all:

And when they ask us, how dangerous it was,

Oh, we'll never tell them, no, we'll never tell them:

We spent our pay in some cafe,

And fought wild women night and day,

'Twas the cushiest job we ever had.

And when they as us, and they're certainly going to ask us,

The reason why we didn't win the Croix de Guerre,

Oh, we'll never tell then, no we'll never tell them

There was a front, but damned if we knew where.

No matter how many histories of the war are written, how long we study the conflict or even how many films are made we can never understand the true tragedy on innumerable levels the 1914-18 war in particular was. That, I suppose, is something which we cannot accept. The First World War generation is gone and the next, which sent it's sons off into another global conflict is ageing. For the first time in a century we are living in a society where the majority of the population know nothing of the horrors of battle. We glorify war and we prize our 'heroes' in uniform but we know nothing of it. Countless glossy war films, video games and senseless fiction has left us, as a society, de-sensitised to what an abhorrent notion war is and always will be to humanity.

I have not served, but taken from men who have in war zones of the past quarter of a century (Afghanistan, Iraq, Northern Ireland, and the Falklands) a letter to The Independent Wednesday 3rd November 2010) highlights the true meaning of Armistice Day. Put succinctly 'Remembrance should be marked with the sentiment "Never again" ' It must not provide some sort of validation for current conflict, nor must it glamorise the mystique of heroes. Regrettably it does.

Behind the medals, the homecoming parades and the sometimes sickening jingoism and rhetoric of heroism we have lost what war is. It is an affront to humanity. As the six ex-servicemen state with far greater authority than I can claim 'There is nothing heroic about being blown up in a vehicle. There is nothing heroic about being shot in an ambush and there is nothing heroic about fighting an unnecessary conflict.'

The poppy must represent to us, as it did to those now long gone battalions of the 'The War to End All Wars' humble, silent remembrance and a determination to fittingly honour the memory of those who could say 'For your tomorrow, We gave our today'. Nothing short of that will do.