Bacup singer bowled over to sing at The Ashes (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Bacup singer bowled over to sing at The Ashes

6:00pm Wednesday 1st July 2009 in

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EAST Lancashire tenor Sean Ruane has been hand-picked to round off The Ashes opening ceremony, it has been confirmed.

Opera star Sean will cap off a half-hour showcase at Glamorgan’s Swalec Stadium with a rousing rendition of Jerusalem on July 8.

Sean’s slot is the third time he has tasted Ashes glory – he performed before the 2005 series and made a fan of Lancashire’s Freddie Flintoff.

Later in 2007 he jetted out to Australia for that series and was also booked to sing at Shane Warne’s retirement ceremony.

The new Ashes top billing, with Katherine Jenkins, will kick-start a summer of sport for the Bacup-raised singing ace.

He is pencilled in to perform before the cricket Tests at Lord’s, Edgbaston, Headingley and the Oval, before the start of play and after lunch, singing standards such as Jerusalem, Rose of England and You Raise Me Up.

He will also perform new composition We Are One, penned by Aussie songsmith Sean O’Boyle, the man behind the themes for the Sydney and Athens’ Olympics.

Sean said: “It is a real honour and the ideal gig for someone like me who is a mad-keen cricket fan.

“I’ve already spent some time with the England team in Belgium last week and I can’t wait for the summer of matches.”

And the Royal Northern College of Music old boy has also performed before England football and Great Britain rugby league internationals.

The Burnley FC-mad tenor has also been in London’s famed Air Studios recently, producing an album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Britain’s Got Talent star Yvie Burnett.

He has also accepted a role as Rodolfo in Opera Holland Park’s London production of Puccini’s La Boheme this August.