Cricket: Photo-shoot

The Oval has a long history of playing hosts to Australians, but in the autumn there is one fixture at the London cricket ground which is quite unlike any other occasion.

While an Ashes Test match can generate plenty of passion in an Oval crowd, it does not match the noise and colour of the annual Aussie Rules match for the Australian Football Cup.

Flags, banners and the chanting of team names are the order of the day for an event that has firmly established a place for itself in the sporting calendar. This year's match, played last Sunday, featured Collingwood, one of the big names of Aussie Rules, against the West Coast Eagles. A crowd of 11,000 saw West Coast enjoy an impressive 73-55 victory after taking a decisive 15-point lead in the first quarter of the match.

Copies of these photographs - and any others by the Independent's sports photographers David Ashdown, Peter Jay and Robert Hallam - can be ordered by telephoning 0171-293-2534.