When Australia defend the Ashes in England in 2009, they will do so without a triumvirate of great players who have formed both the basis of Australia’s domination over the past decade, and the benchmark against which future Australian players will be judged. Nevertheless, the 2009 Ashes itinerary, released by the ECB yesterday, gives the next generation a much better chance of succeeding where Messrs Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist failed three years ago.

While there is no doubt that England’s famous win in 2005 was fully deserved, at the time there was a suspicion that the Australians had been caught cold by an itinerary that did them few favours. After a jolly against a PCA Masters XI, and a one-day match against an understrength Leicestershire team, the 2005 Australians were roasted by a turbo-charged England in a Twenty20 international at the Rose Bowl.

In many ways that match set the tone for the tour. Australia were patently short of practice, match fitness and intensity after a long layoff. They lost the next three matches, to Somerset, Bangladesh and England again, so that the aura of invincibility had been broken before an Ashes ball had been bowled. Their first-class preparation before the first Test of that summer consisted of just one three-day match. It smacked of complacency.

The itinerary released yesterday, which includes five Tests, seven one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals, gives Australia a much better chance of at least achieving some sort of form. By the end, though, even those with fat Indian Premier League contracts might be pining for a rest, given that their stay will stretch over four long and arduous months.

The key difference from 2005 is that the five Test matches take place before the one-day internationals. Preceding the Ashes series itself is the ICC World Twenty20. Australia, then, will arrive in mid-May, play Twenty20 cricket until the culmination of that tournament on June 21, then play two four-day first-class matches, against Sussex at Hove and England Lions at Worcester, before embarking on their Ashes defence.

Given the strong carry-over between Australia’s one-day and Test squads, it is likely that the majority of Australia’s Test players will have been in England for nearly two months before the first Test begins. Most touring teams face accusations these days of a lack of preparation; the danger for Australia is not so much that they will be undercooked as overdone. By the time their Ashes defence begins, though, there ought to be no excuses.

I understand that there was little argument between the ECB and Cricket Australia over the itinerary. John Carr, Hugh Morris and Peter Moores were actively involved in the discussions with Michael Brown, the Cricket Australia operations manager. The main point of contention concerned the venue for the Lions match — Australia wanted to be reasonably close to Cardiff — and the logistics of travel to Edinburgh, where Australia squeeze in a one-day international against Scotland between the last Test at the Brit Oval and the first Twenty20 international at Old Trafford.

It is not only the Scots who will be welcoming Australia. In a triumph for chutzpah and ambition on the part of Glamorgan if not the ECB, Wales will host the first Test of the summer in Cardiff, while Rod Bransgrove’s multimillion-pound investment into Hampshire has been rewarded with a one-day international under lights in early September.

David Collier, the chief executive of the ECB, yesterday looked forward to a mouthwatering summer of cricket 12 months hence, which had the potential, he said, to “fire the nation’s imagination”. Australia, too, can be well pleased; the itinerary is patently fair to both teams.

Ashes 2009

Australian tour to England

June

Wed 24-Sat 27

Four-day game v Sussex (Hove)

July

Wed 1-Sat 4

Four-day game v England Lions (Worcester)

Wed 8-Sun 12

1st npower Test (Cardiff)

Thu 16-Mon 20

2nd npower Test (Lord’s)

Fri 24-Sun 26

Three-day game v Northamptonshire (Northampton)

Thu 30-Mon 3 Aug

3rd npower Test (Edgbaston)

August

Fri 7-Tue 11

4th npower Test (Headingley)

Sat 15-Sun 16

Two-day game v Kent (Canterbury)

Thu 20-Mon 24

5th npower Test (Brit Oval)

Fri 28

ODI v Scotland (Edinburgh)

Sun 30

1st NatWest International Twenty20 (Old Trafford)

September

Tue 1

2nd NatWest International Twenty20 (Old Trafford, floodlit)

NatWest Series Fri 4

1st day/night (Brit Oval)

Sun 6

2nd (Lord’s)

Wed 9

3rd day/ night (Rose Bowl)

Sat 12

4th (Lord’s)

Tue 15

5th day/ night (Trent Bridge)

Thu 17

6th day/ night (Trent Bridge)

Sun 20

7th (Durham)

Mon 21

Australia depart