Australia v England: Countdown to the first Ashes Test A SLEDGE TOO FAR!
Anderson: We’ll rein in the trash talk WE MUST GRAB A GABBA DRAW Root them out and bat at No.3
And after featuring in 26 Ashes contests down the years he knows there will be a moment or two of conflict, but he is adamant it won’t be the key feature of a competitive series.
“I’m focused on getting the batsmen out,” said Anderson. “I’m not going out there to sledge everyone, that is not the right thing to focus on.
“I just hope that common sense is used and if players say anything then just be careful. That Michael Clarke thing didn’t MICHAEL VAUGHAN has ramped up the pressure on England’s cricketers by telling them: Lose the first Test and you’ll probably lose the series.
Joe Root’s men take on Australia at The Gabba on Thursday, hoping to become the first side to beat them in Brisbane since the West Indies team of Sir Viv Richards, Richie Richardson and Malcolm Marshall, won there 29 years ago.
The ground has been a graveyard for touring teams ever since and defeats there have h any effect ff t on me. I’ I’ve hd had a lt lot worse, but it was the fact that it was picked up on a stump mic.
“I just hope the officials take into account that it is a highly-competitive series.”
Unfortunately for Anderson (below with Clarke at the Gabba in 2013) though, he has been on three Ashes tours and two of them have ended in 5-0 whitewashes which highlights just how tough life can be in this part of the world.
He was, however, at the forefront of England’s charge to a 3-1 series win in 2010/11 when he took 24 wickets and even flew home in the middle of the series for the birth of his baby daughter.
And as far as the 35-year-old is concerned there is one thing that made all the difference.
Big runs, scoreboard pressure, call it what you will, but the batsmen have a job to do.
He added: “In t he t wo l osing series we didn’t get big runs. When you get big runs on the have regularly led to disappointment Down Under. “The optimist in me will always say it’s not over, but the realist in me would say it is over if we lose in Brisbane,” said Vaughan (right).
“You look at the day/ night game to come in Adelaide – if Australia win, that’s two in two.
“You have to follow that and, again, Australia don’t lose many in Perth. The only success I’ve known England b board d it makes k your jb job as a b bowler, l I can’t tell you how many times easier.
“That scoreboard pressure plays such a huge part. The last time we were there we did pretty well first innings, but then we would get bowled out cheaply.
“We would only get 40 overs rest and then have to go out and bowl again, which makes our job twice as hard.
“You need your batsmen scoring big runs, that is how you win over here. “If David Warner comes out to bat with a 150-run lead then he is obviously going to bat a certain way, and that does dictate how you can bowl.” He might be bowling as well as ever, but this will be Anderson’s last Ashes tour in all likelihood and he is desperate for a repeat of seven years ago, even if it means nodding off again. He admitted: “I fell asleep in the dressing room at the end of that Sydney Test before we went out on the field for a beer. “I had to get nudged to go out and join the rest of the team and I just sat on the outfield, absolutely goosed. It was brilliant.” to have in Australia is 2010/11 when they got something out of Brisbane, a draw. “Every other series I have seen, watched or been around, we lose in Brisbane and we get hammered.” David Warner will, no doubt, lead a barrage of Aussie verbals, but Vaughan is more worried about what he can do with the bat. He added: “Of
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all the players of both teams, he will have potentially the most impact with the bat.
“If he can nullify Jimmy Anderson – and that’s what the Aussies will try to do – and attack Mooen Ali, then England are down to three bowlers.
“If England can keep Warner quiet, it’ll go a long way towards them being successful in this series.” GRAEME SWANN wants to see Joe Root make the Aussies quiver by batting at No.3. “Joe should never be told where to bat – he should play where he’s happy,” said Swann (above). “But I would have him at three. “I was a positive thinker and, yet, when I saw Ricky Ponting walking in at three, you were put on the back foot because he was such a good player and you knew what he was capable of. “Of course, there is more chance of getting him out with the newer ball.But Joe intimidates bowlers when he walks out.You put him at four and it subconsciously says a little bit that, ‘We’re scared of him getting out to the new ball, we’re hiding him from it’.”