Aussies knuckle down ahead of Ashes

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Australia's cricketers are using the latest fitness techniques to get an edge over England in next month's Ashes series, reports said on Saturday.The Aussies are looking more muscular and fitter with the help of sports science, including GPS satellite tracking systems and accelerometers to measure players' physical activity.Team strength and conditioning coach Justin Cordy has devised fitness programmes for each player and they have returned in excellent shape from a four-month (southern) winter break."Skinfolds is what we are focused on ... overall as a team there's been a 15% change in all players," Cordy told Brisbane's Courier-Mail newspaper on Saturday."Over the last four or five months, I've really seen these guys knuckle down with the Ashes and World Cup [next March-April] on the table."It's about making them more athletic and getting excess weight off, so we can really focus on power and speed of movement. From my perspective, it was a matter of building on their [fitness] base and taking them to another level."Most of the Australian players are over 30 and know they must be in peak condition for the Ashes schedule of five Tests in seven weeks.GPS devices are regularly fitted to players -- swing bowler Nathan Bracken agreed to wear one on his wrist during a one-day international final in Brisbane last season -- as Australia seeks an advantage over England."The GPS satellite tracking devices give you an idea of what distance the players cover and at what speeds," Cordy said."For instance, it showed that Bracken covered 15km out in the field in Brisbane."One of the things that came out of the technology was that there was a significant difference in training heart-rates versus playing heart-rates."It has highlighted the need at training to work harder because of the intensity of matches." - Sapa-AFP