Ashes under the spotlight in guest lecture 24th June 2013

England legend Alec Stewart OBE and former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie will take part in the Carnegie Conversations guest lecture, where they'll be interviewed by former South African cricketer Dave Callaghan about the impending Ashes series.

The interactive Q&A session will explore the special sporting relationship between Australia and England, which provides such a scintillating spectacle whenever they take to the field. Team work, mental toughness, leadership, motivation and self-belief are some of the topics likely to be covered in this unique free event, which takes place from 5pm - 7pm on Monday 1 July in the Lewis Jones Suite at Headingley Carnegie Stadium.

Speaking ahead of the event, Dean of the Carnegie Faculty, Gareth Davies said: "The rivalry between England and Australia is intense in every sport and none more so than in cricket and the Ashes. The insights that Alec and Jason can give from their own experience will be fascinating and it's sure to be a passionate and exciting debate as we conclude our Carnegie Conversations guest lecture series."

Alec Stewart OBE is regarded as one of England's greatest ever all-rounders and is the most capped England cricketer of all time in Test matches and the second most capped in One Day Internationals. He played in 133 Tests and 170 One Day Internationals and was awarded the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993, an MBE in 1998 and an OBE in 2003. Alec is a long-standing Ambassador for Yorkshire Bank undertaking community, corporate and charity events and is a well-known supporter of Chelsea FC. He is now a regular cricket analyst on Radio 5 Live and Sky Sports. He has a great skill in drawing together the challenges that face business and sport alike with his leadership experience and tales from the cricket pitch.

Yorkshire First XI Coach and former Australian fast bowlerJason Gillespiejoined Yorkshire's coaching team at the end of the 2011 season. He previously coached Zimbabwean team MidWest Rhinos and worked as a bowling coach for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL and Australia A. He played 71 Tests for Australia, taking a total of 259 wickets and scored an unbeaten 201 in his final Test against Bangladesh.

Supported by Yorkshire Bank,the lecture is part of Leeds Met's 'Carnegie Conversations' guest lecture series, organised by the University's Carnegie Faculty.

This is the final lecture in the series which has seen a number of high profile sporting stars present including Olympian Steve Cram, former Chair of UK Sport Baroness Sue Campbell, England rugby union head coach Stuart Lancaster and Leeds Rhinos and England rugby league captain Kevin Sinfield.