England and Australia will be teeing off before a ball is bowled in the Ashes, with some of the country’s most prestigious golf courses staging preparations for both men’s teams before the summer’s marquee Test series.
Australia arrive in the UK this weekend for the World Test Championship final against India, which gets under way at the Oval on 7 June. In addition to training and intra-squad cricket at Beckenham – there are no county warm-up matches scheduled – the tourists are reported to have lined up golf at Formby on Merseyside.
