England's Ashes woes set to cost ECB millions

Sydney, Jan 28 (UNI) England are not just turning out to be a cricketing disaster in Australia, they are also set to become a more-than-three-million-dollar economic catastrophe for the ECB as Andrew Flintoff and Co are being paid 2000 dollars per day in the 100-day long tour.

According to a report in the 'Daily Telegraph', the English players are set to earn as much as 170,000 dollars for the disastrous tour, in which they became the first side in 86 years to lose the Ashes 0-5.

The visitors have proved no good at the ODIs as well and have just one win in the tri-nation series -- also involving New Zealand -- so far.

The England and Wales Cricket Board had initially set aside three million dollars for the tour but match fees', boarding and lodging expenses along with the burden of a huge support staff has seen the estimates rise sharply.

However, the team's performance has been pathetic to say the least and they touched a new low when they went down by nine wickets to Australia after scoring just 110.

In contrast, Cricket Australia has been laughing its way to the bank as people are turning up in huge numbers to watch the home side decimate their rivals.

''Crowds are obviously strong, TV ratings are up six per cent on last year's one-day figures, the appetite of the Aussie fans hasn't diminished,'' CA spokesman Peter Young was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

''Australian fans will queue up around the corner to watch Australia win. At the moment, obviously there is a great deal of confidence in Australia's performance and they want to be part of it,'' he added.

UNI