Botham casts aside early doubts to declare England’s hearts And minds are ready for blockbuster Ashes series showdown
IAN Botham had early doubts over where the hearts and minds of his team were, but he suddenly believes England is ready for Ashes battle.
Botham has declared 39-yearold James Anderson a marvel still capable of inspiring an Ashes miracle on Australian soil and he is adamant the addition of Ben Stokes has wiped out any fears he had over England’s attitude.
The England Test legend asked whether Joe Root’s side actually “fancied” stepping up to the ultimate challenge of Ashes cricket, as the team hesitated on whether to agree to tour Australia in a pandemic.
“It’s the ultimate test and – I don’t know – I start to wonder maybe if some of these guys don’t fancy the ultimate test,” Botham said back in October.
“You have to start to worry about it.”
But Botham said his initial doubts about England’s lust for the contest had been eliminated, simply by the team jumping on the plane – and he believed Australia would face an outfit more than up for the challenge.
“100 per cent. I feel really confident now. I know the players are,” said Botham, who is in Australia as an expert for Channel 7.
“They know that everything has been done to accommodate those fears they had and they can get on with it now. Everybody is fired up and what happened months ago is gone. It’s done and dusted.
“They’re here to play cricket.” Only adding to Botham’s confidence is the presence of super allrounder Stokes.
As one of the best all-rounders the game has ever seen, Botham not only understands Stokes better than most, but he can appreciate
what his injection does for the rest of the England team.
“Ben Stokes’ greatest strength, is he is Ben Stokes. That’s it,” Botham said.
“The lift that would have given to the dressing room is enormous.
“He’s got good memories of playing against Australia and that will bear well with him.
“The Australians will be thinking about that as well.
“And if he gets off to a good start, which he will be looking very hard at his game, he has such a presence. I love the way he plays. I love the way he thinks.
“He is box office. That’s the only word for it.
“He empties bars, he doesn’t fill them.”
Anderson first toured Australia in 2006 and is now back for his fifth visit – an extraordinary record by anyone’s estimations.
He will be 40 in July and yet experts still believe he can be a force in Australia this summer if used judiciously.
Botham says the fourth most capped bowler in the history of the game – third on the all-time wickettaking list – will not be daunted by the flat, hard Australian pitches.
“I don’t see why (he won’t be successful) at all. He’s a master at what he does. He’s the best at what he does probably in the world at the moment,” Botham said.
“You write him off at your peril, is my thinking with Jimmy.
“I don’t know if he’ll play all five Tests, he may not, because they are a little bit closer together now than normal.
“But having said that, I think Jimmy, the day-nighter in Adelaide, he’ll have a major say in that. “They’ll look after him.
“He’s 39 but … I’ll be honest with you, I think Jimmy Anderson will have a big part to play.”