Stuart Broad thinks England should not be underestimated in Ashes
Saturday 27 June 2015 22:06, UK
Recent form and a home advantage mean England have a strong chance of taking back the Ashes urn, according to paceman Stuart Broad.
England defeated New Zealand in the recent one-day series with a free-flowing attack and the Test squad, under the leadership of the newly arrived coach Trevor Bayliss, will now head to Spain looking to capture that momentum for the series against Australia.
While Bayliss, an Australian, will offer some insight into Australia's line-up, Broad says England will be most focused on their own game and harnessing the form younger players have shown in the shorter formats.
"There’s a lot of experience in our changing room, a lot of us have played against the Australians quite a lot and we should go into the series with some good confidence," Broad told Sky Sports HQ.
"Australia haven’t won a series in England since 2001, England play some fantastic cricket in England, but it’s also worth picking the brain of a lot of people and having an Australian coach for the first time we’ll certainly be picking his brain to get any sort of advantage.
"And there’s a lot of momentum – just the way the guys played (against New Zealand), really free-spirited, really exciting to watch.
"You can’t play that aggressively, that positively, in Test cricket, but you can certainly take that momentum into it, you can look to score.
"I think it showed when you have no fear with the bat it was hugely exciting to watch and you get a bit luckier as well.
"I think it’s opened the fans eyes to the amount of talent in English cricket at the moment – the summer that the likes of Root, Buttler and Stokes have been having is fantastic so far, and then you bring in the experience of Jimmy Anderson and Alastair Cook and it suddenly matches up to be a very strong team.”
It’s important against Australia you do look them in the eye and front up. You don’t have to say anything.
Broad believes the two teams’ bowling attacks will be closely matched – each likely to field four seamers and a spinner – but says the English conditions and the new ball will be crucial in toppling the Australians in-form top order.
Sledging
Much has been made of Australia’s sledging tactics but Broad says he has no plans to engage in the verbal battle, though he admits the series is unlikely to be as “polite” as the recently concluded series against new Zealand.
Broad said: “It’s important against Australia you do look them in the eye and front up. You don’t have to say anything. You just have to have that look in your eye and have a presence on the field.
"You do have to match the Aussies slightly, because they’re a tough team to play against and you don’t want to just sit back and take it.”
The first Investec Ashes Test is live from Cardiff on our dedicated Sky Sports Ashes channel from Wednesday July 8
