James Anderson believes Australia will try and come back hard at England when the sides meet for the first Ashes since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum revolutionised the national side’s fortunes.
Since Stokes was awarded the permanent captaincy in April, England have gone from a side with one win in 17 Tests to winning eight out of their last nine matches, and breaking countless records in the process.
England’s attacking brand of cricket, hailed as ‘Bazball’, has turned around their fortunes, with Stokes leading a confident and relaxed atmosphere focused on their playing style rather than results.
Anderson, who turned 40 earlier this year, believes England will be in a good place when Australia visit in June.
When asked if he was excited about the prospect of England playing their current style of cricket against the Australians, Anderson said: “Yeah, I feel like that going into every series and game we play.
“The message is the same every week – can we go to another level? Can we keep breaking records? Can we play even more entertaining cricket?
“I’m sure over the coming months the messages will be the same, with the talent we have got we should just keep getting better so that by the time the Ashes does come around, we’ll be in a good place.”
England’s new brand of cricket has created a stark contrast to the more traditional form of Test cricket played by the rest of the world’s cricketing nations.
Anderson believes there is a chance Australia could be threatened by their recent revolution, which started in the aftermath of England’s disappointing 4-0 defeat down under last winter.
“I dunno really (if Australia will be twitchy following Stokes’ side’s success),” the seam-bowler said.
I texted Tim Southee the other day to congratulate him on the NZ captaincy and he was like 'I'm not sure I can keep up with you guys'— James Anderson
“It’s an interesting one. I texted Tim Southee the other day to congratulate him on the NZ captaincy and he was like ‘I’m not sure I can keep up with you guys’.
“Maybe the Aussies might be more brash than him but there might be something deep down, where they’re not sure how they’re going to approach it against us.
“Having played against them a lot, I’m sure they’ll try to come back just as hard as they can. But it seems a long way away at the minute, but hopefully we can keep enjoying ourselves and keep playing the way we are because it’s a lot of fun to be a part of.”
