Anderson not writing off Australia

Pace bowler James Anderson has made it clear England won’t be underestimating Australia in this summer’s Ashes series despite being heavy favourites to retain the urn again. The fast bowler has been on both winning and losing England teams in the Ashes, but it’s been more good than bad for Anderson in recent series against Australia.

Australia will go into the Ashes on the back of a disappointing 4-0 series humbling in India, which was as embarrassing off the field as it was on it. Despite a number of exciting youngsters coming through the ranks, Australia are still a shadow of the team that dominated Test cricket for so many years, not least against England.

 England will be well aware that form usually goes out the window when it comes to the Ashes, and Alastair Cook’s men won’t be taking the Aussies lightly in the first of back-to-back series against Australia.

"Form kind of goes out of the window a little bit with an Ashes series. Australia are always competitive regardless of what form they've been in leading up to an Ashes series, they always fight hard and make it difficult for us,” insisted Anderson.

"Every team we play against we respect them and we'll prepare as well as we always do for any Test series. We'll prepare with a lot of detail and hopefully we'll be fighting fit and produce a good Ashes series."

Before taking on Michael Clarke’s Australia team, England will first welcome New Zealand for the return Test series, coming shortly after returning from a tough three-Test series against Kiwis during the winter.

While England will be looking to rediscover their form against the Black Caps in preparation for the Ashes, there will also be a certain amount of caution that nobody picks up any injuries ahead of such an important few months.

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