On Friday, England's cricketers suffered two defeats in a single day at the hands of the Australians. At Cape Town, Paul Collingwood's men were rolled over by eight wickets in the World Twenty20, while in Southern Iraq, the soldiers of the First Mechanised Brigade succumbed by the same margin to their antipodean rivals, Overwatch Battlegroup West, at the US Air Force base in Tallil, near Basra.

Tallil has also become the home to Ashes matches between the English and Australian military contingents working in Iraq. The match is played in aid of charities supporting ex-servicemen and women from the two countries, and also provides a welcome spot of light relief from the challenging and often dangerous work the troops are doing to help the Iraqi Security Forces bring stability and security to the south of the country.