Andy Flower: We're ready to go
England coach Andy Flower says his team are ready and chomping at the bit to get at Australia during the first Ashes Test at Brisbane this week.
England heads toward Thursday's start after continuing impressive form since the team arrived in Australia. England has comprehensively won tour matches against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Western-Australia-c865 and Australia A while
drawing the other match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Australia-c844.
"We've had some excellent preparation. The guys have played well and are feeling confident.
We're just looking forward to getting started now, to the challenge. Everyone is really excited about being here.
The guys have worked hard down in Hobart, as have the bowlers here in Brisbane," Flower said on the Sky Sports website.
Australia will also be confident despite a recent 2-0 series defeat at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750. This is because the Australians have a 20-game
unbeaten run at the Brisbane ground.
High profile Australian player such as Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting have also said that the defeat to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, in limited overs cricket
at the start of the Australian summer, is irrelevant given the importance of the Ashes.
"They've
got an outstanding record here, in the last 20 games, they've won 16 and drawn four. That's going to be quite a record to turn over.
I think our side in the last 12 to 18 months has done a few good things.
One of which was turning over that Lord's record of not having beaten Australia there for 75 years,"
Flower added.
Flower has suggested that this current England team thrives on having huge challenges put before them. England will have all of the odds
stacked against them throughout the series due to the fact that Australia has home advantage.
However, Flower also suggests that England has better and stronger characters than the Australian team, which will be important over a
longer series. Individuals such as Jonathan Trott, Graeme Swann and Kevin Pietersen are all well known for sticking up for the English team.
"This
is a challenge put in front of us, and we're looking forward to it," said Flower.
Flower has pointed out to his team that the current Australian side has a number of weaknesses and problems heading into the first Test
match. There are still questions over Ricky Ponting's role as captain while there is a serious concern over vice-captain Michael Clarke's fitness.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 was one of the few Australian batsmen to make a century during the 2-1 defeat to England last year. He has said that he will play
no part in the first Test unless he is one hundred per cent fit.
"I
am certainly not going to take to the field unless I can perform as well as I can I think that would be silly of me and I don't want to let the team down but if I do feel I can do my role to the best of my ability I will be out there.
I have had back problems my whole career. I don't think they are going to go away in a hurry but it is about managing it," Clarke told Sky Sports.
Betting advice
Out of the two camps England will probably be the more confident at this stage. England is the slightly better team to back because firstly,
the odds will be longer.
England's confidence is also grounded in solid performances since arriving in Australia and over the whole of the English summer. The difference
is that Australia's confidence is grounded in the fact that the side is playing at home and has a very solid record when doing so.
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