Sydney: England and Australia will play back-to-back Ashes series in 2013 and 2014 because of the 2015 World Cup in Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Saturday. “We do have those two Ashes series that are back to back,” Cricket Australia spokesman Peter Young told the newspaper. “One concern that England had, which is understandable, was that if they’d played Ashes in 2015 along with the World Cup, the England team would have to stay in Australia for five months, that’s just way too long.

“From a media rights point of view, that is blue-chip cricket. The Ashes have an X-factor element that excites the Australian public. The Ashes make turnstiles spin and they drive the ratings up,” Young said.

England and Wales Cricket Board marketing and communications manager Steve Elworthy said the two boards wanted to get a gap between the Ashes and the World Cup. (Reuters)