Australia do not have same aura, says Strauss
Australia do not have the same aura about them as recent dominant
teams from Down Under, England captain Andrew Strauss said on Wednesday.
England lead the Ashes series 1-0 going into the third test at
Edgbaston starting on Thursday and Strauss said the Australians were not
as intimidating as they once were.
“I don’t think this Australia side has an aura about them,” Strauss
told a news conference. “The aura came from guys like (Shane) Warne,
(Glenn) McGrath, (Matthew) Hayden and (Adam) Gilchrist.
“A lot of their players are just starting their test careers and it
feels like you are playing against any other test team.”
Australia captain Ricky Ponting played down the significance of the
comments.
“Aura is built up over a long period of time,” he said. “Results
change the aura of a side and it’s about executing your plans and skills
to a high level.
“That is what some of our former players were so good at doing and
why they won a lot of test matches.”
England will be without their leading batsman Kevin Pietersen through
injury.
“You always miss players of that quality but I am very confident that
Ian Bell will come back and play very well,” Strauss said.
Bell, however, has a modest record against Australia and Ponting said
they would be targeting him.
“We do feel their batting is weakened without Pietersen and it’s our
job to get the openers out early and to get into the middle-order
quickly with a hard ball,” he said.
England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is winning his fitness race
following his inspirational bowling performance in the hosts’ dramatic
115-run victory in the last test at Lord’s.
“He seems fine and has come through all the work-outs pretty well,”
Strauss said. “So barring anything happening overnight he should be ok
and we are very optimistic.”
Spinner Monty Panesar has been released from the squad and England
will make their final team selection in the morning with heavy rain
forecast to disrupt the game.
“It is a huge test match for both sides,” Strauss said. “The Aussies
will come back strong and will be motivated to raise their levels.
“Generally, it was a very good team performance at Lord’s but we can
always improve.”
BIRMINGHAM, Reuters
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