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And now, an Ashes for eves

On Monday, women's cricket got its own Ashes, when the players of the England and Australian sides gathered at Harris Gardens, inside Lord's, to watch the burning of a miniature cricket bat signed by all the players.

Some bricks were placed inside a frying pan, kindling was used to get the fire going, and the small, blue-handled bat was placed on it by Aussie skipper Belinda Clark and her English counterpart Karen Smithies. Minutes later, it was a pile of ash.

The ashes will, later, be scraped into a wooden mounted cricket ball that will now become the perpetual Test match trophy between the two traditional rivals.

The trophy will be played for once every two years.

The two teams will play the fifth and final one-day international at Lord's on Tuesday, with the visitors favoured to complete a 5-0 series whitewash.

Interestingly, the hugely successful Australian women's team, holders of the World Cup, have only one small time sponsor in the regional television broadcaster WIN.

Thus, each member of the squad of 14 is contributing Australian $1,000 towards the two-month tour.

Unlike in England, where women's cricket recently merged with the men's cricketing body -- a move expected to ensure the development of the women's game -- Australian women's cricket is a separate entity from the Australian Cricket Board, which however does contribute some funding, albeit of a minor sort.