This is the Friends of History Debating Society. I'm John Batchel in Southern New England.

Jeremy Zackis is in New South Wales. And Ashes are the contest. Is the contest? Let's see. Ashes, would that be plural?

No, it's singular. Ashes is the contest that is occasioned every year and a half between Australia and England,

dating back to the 19th century when England routinely mocked Australia in all departments,

especially in cricket, the national sport. Ashes, the last two ashes have been decided in Australia's

favor. So England that is traveling to Australia for the ashes which begin at the end of the calendar

year is anticipating a victory in some fashion. it's time to choose the act or to entertain

the ashes team how do they do it jeremy you've got so many good players and they all have

different skill sets really is by trial and error and what i mean by trial and error is that

leading up to the ashes, we have a large

program of a lot of international test cricket where Australian teams are going out, playing

against the English, playing against the West Indies, playing against the Indians and the

Pakistanis. And we have a lot of teams that are going out and effectively playing an Ashes type

of format right throughout the year, which means that we can actually start to test

players and start to put players up that we're anticipating will be in the Asher squad.

So what we typically are seeing right now is that in a lot of our test series matches,

a lot of the teams that are being selected have maybe about three or four players that are likely

to actually go on

to the Ashes series at the very end of the year. And now these players are normally the ones

that are either typically batting and bowling first or are the ones that are getting the most

exposure on the cricket ground because the selectors are watching keenly how they go against

all these different teams to see if they fit the ashes side.

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