England’s veteran pacer James Anderson believes that no one in the cricketing world can compete with England.
Since the arrival of coach Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes becoming captain, England have had a massive turnaround in Test cricket due to their aggressive brand of cricket termed “BazBall”, winning ten out of 13 matches in the process.
Despite believing that Australia have a unit full of quality players the 40-year-old backs his side to overcome the visitors should they play to their full potential.
"Australia are naturally extremely competitive and aggressive. They’ll have discussed [our tactics] and have their own plans and ways of how they are going to cope," said Anderson.
"I just think if we do what we’ve been doing and play as well as we possibly can, I don’t think anyone in the world can cope with it."
The veteran also praised his captain Stokes while talking about how much the team has improved under him so far and called him the finest of the eight Test captains he has operated under.
"I think he’s been spot on so far. I can’t fault anything really. I think everyone knew that he was a leader, the way he trains, whether it’s the gym or whether it’s catching or batting or bowling the way he goes about his business – he is the ultimate professional; a born leader.
"[But] for me, it’s the finer details, not just on the field where his tactical nous has been spot on, but also his emotional intelligence off the field and how he talks to everyone in the group. If he needs to put his arm around someone or fire someone up, he’s just got a really good way of doing that. So I’ve been really impressed," Anderson added.
England will first play a one-off Test against Ireland to prepare for the Ashes series against Australia. The five Tests against Australia will then be played between 16 June to 31 July.
Anderson has 685 career Test wickets in 333 innings which is the third most in Test cricket history.
- James Anderson