With the Ashes looming, the Aussies are looking more and more like the underdogs, a mantle that may suit them better. Issues with fitness, confidence and overall form are weighing heavily  on the minds of all supporters. By contrast England have been fairly low-key apart from their fairly disturbing series of sprinkler dancing activities.

So while the Aussies go in as legitimate underdogs in their own country, this is a situation that has been known to play in our favor. Players have a point to prove none more than Ricky Ponting whose captaincy and lean batting average has been questionable. There is no such thing as an uncompetitive Aussie cricket team and I think we’ll see that shine through.

For those of us in the US, the options for viewing the games are fairly slim but they are there, mostly online.

Willow.tv – probably the best quality offering out there and quite reasonable priced at $14.99/month. I haven’t used them for a while but I do recall only being able to watch live.

TVNSports.com – currently my viewing choice even though we have a had a rocky relationship (dropped subscription, ignored emails, streaming issues) they have been good of late and the whole series (including One Dayers and 20/20’s) can be picked up for $14.99. They also have the option of On Demand Replays which is a nice touch.

Cric7.com – I’ve heard good things and I’ll be checking them out. Only seems to work on Internet Explorer. Free.

Justin.tv – this route can be a little hit or miss and is dependent on someone deciding to stream from their telly back in Oz and the system not being yanked.

Directv – even if you have the cricket ticket, the Ashes is not part of it. Boo.

If you have any other suggestions, let us know and we’ll add them. C’mon Aussies.