IT’S shaping up to be a brilliant summer of cricket in Australia. The Ashes Tour is set to revitalise Aussie cricket after a couple of comfortable summers for the Australians on their home soil.

The English are talking themselves up to be the Golden Generation of cricketers after their 5-nil whitewash of Australia in the NatWest Series just fresh from winning the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies.

Andrew Strauss’s men will have extra motivation against the Aussies following their embaressing 6-1 defeat in the corresponding Ashes series last year.

So is Australia ready for such a challenge? They appear primed under the leadership of Ricky Ponting. It is as if they need a challenger in test matches because they have so often just bustled aside their opposition in recent years with relative ease.

South Africa was perhaps its biggest challenger in the past few years. The South Africans were brilliant in Australia over summer and if the English can live up to expectations, you’d expect them to make a similar match of it.

There are still many chinks in the Australian armour. Yes they have some young talented cricketers surging towards stardom, but there isn’t the amount of depth that there was when the team was at its peak in the early to mid 2000s.

Of course, they would love some of Shane Warne’s spin magic and some of Matthew Hayden’s steady centuries but they have built a new generation of cricketers that are living up to the same name.

The English appear to be following the Aussies in the way they have conquered the world. Its World Twenty20 win shows they have a lethal combination for one day matches, but the tests will be a massive test for them.

Tell us what you think. Will England provide the contest we’re hoping for in this year’s Ashes series?