Video

An unusually busy summer for England, including them hosting the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, either side of which was sandwiched a series with New Zealand has kept Ashes talk off the players' minds until now. With the series set to get underway on Wednesday, 10th July, at Trent Bridge, fast bowlers Steven Finn and Stuart Broad took part in a press conference run by sponsors Investic to talk all things Ashes, England and Australia.

Leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed has today been awarded Australian citizenship, which would allow him to represent Australia in the upcoming Ashes series. He travelled to the British Isles with the 'A' team last month but currently lies behind Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar in the pecking order ahead of the five-match series.

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has admitted to spot-fixing and publicly apologised for his involvement in corruption that has seemingly ended his career. He was handed a five-year ban from cricket with five years suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and also served a custodial sentence in England following a conviction for his part in a scheme to bowl no balls to order in 2010.

Jonathan Agnew and Geoffrey Boycott will be taking their commentary box partnership onto the stage this summer with a series of An Evening With Boycott & Aggers shows. During the shows, the pair will engage audiences with their Ashes memories and stories from their time working together and there will be guest appearances from the likes of Jeff Thomson, Stephen Fry and many more.

Former England captain David Gower knows a thing or two about Australia, both in terms of how to win Ashes series and what the country has to offer to cricket fans. The support of the England fans has become a key part of Ashes tours Down Under for touring teams and Gower is urging fans to travel and get behind Alastair Cook's men later this year.

West Indian opening batsman Chris Gayle followed up a scoring a century in the opening game of the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 with a blistering innings of 88 against Australia in 2009 at The Oval. During an epic contest with one of the world's fastest bowlers, he came out on top, hitting a number of huge sixes, although Lee eventually got his wicket, as Gayle remembers in this video interview.

Ahead of the start of the Friends Life t20 this week, Somerset captain says that the fast-paced, frenetic nature of the game is like '20 overs of explosions'. He helped Somerset lift the trophy in 2005 but despite three further visits to the final, they are still searching for a repeat victory, something which is hopeful of putting right this year.

New Australia head coach Darren Lehmann has wasted no time in sounding a warning to England to expect his team to play an 'aggressive brand of cricket'. Lehmann, who hit the winning runs in the 1999 World Cup and held the catch to win the final four years later, played much of his international cricket under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, who would doubtless approve of his statement of intent.

Najam Sethi was appointed as interim chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board earlier this month and one of his first goals is to ask the International Cricket Council (ICC) to allow banned fast bowler Mohammad Amir to play international cricket again. Amir is has served more than half of a five-year ban imposed by the ICC and has already served a custodial sentence in England for his part in the spot-fixing controversy in 2010.

Sacked as Australia coach after failing to deliver the results expected of him, Mickey Arthur says he takes complete responsibility for the modest return since taking over in November 2011. He was relieved of his post and replaced by Darren Lehmann with a little over two weeks to go before the start of the Ashes.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni says that leading a young side to victory in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 final over England 'means a lot'. At his post-match press conference, he expressed his satisfaction with the way in which his side had defended 129 in a 20-over match.

In their final ICC Champions Trophy video discussion, John Pennington in England and Chetan Narula in India look back at India's five-run win over England in the final. India added the title to their World Cup success by defending a score of 129 for seven with spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja playing key roles with the ball.

England captain Alastair Cook is looking forward to his side's 'big day' at the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 final at Edgbaston when they will take on India. Despite their training being interrupted by rain, he is not too concerned, maintaining that because his side has played a lot of cricket already this summer, they are more than ready to meet the 2011 World Cup winners.

Looking ahead to the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 final tomorrow (23rd June), England batsman Jonathan Trott says he believes the team is peaking and they can't wait to get going. Trott has been a key performer for England during their run to the final with an unbeaten 82 in the semi-final win over South Africa at The Oval as well as a half-century against Sri Lanka in the group game.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has lamented his side's defeat to India in the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 in Cardiff as 'a bad day at the office'. They were without the services of Dinesh Chandimal who pulled out through injury prior to the match, he then lost an important toss in bowler-friendly conditions, key batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan suffered a muscle injury and India wrapped up an eight-wicket victory with 15 overs to spare.

England and India made short work of their respective semi-final opponents South Africa and Sri Lanka to reach the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. In their latest cricket discussion video, John Pennington and Chetan Narula reflect on both matches and look ahead to Sunday's matches.

After England dominated South Africa to clinch a seven-wicket victory in their ICC Champions Trophy semi-final at The Oval, captain Alastair Cook was happy to have won an important toss. It meant that his fast bowlers James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn had the best of the bowling conditions, and they made it county by dismissing South Africa for 175.

India take on Sri Lanka in Cardiff with England awaiting the winners in Sunday's ICC Champions Trophy 2013 semi-final at Edgbaston. The two sides are no strangers to each other, having contested the 2011 World Cup final, which India won on home soil, while India hold the upper hand having won their previous four meetings in England and Wales.