London, May 20 (IANS) Ahead of their much-awaited Ashes series against Australia, veteran pacer James Anderson has claimed that England are operating at an extremely high level and nobody in the world can cope with them while praising the leadership abilities of Ben Stokes.
England have had a turnaround in their fortunes since New Zealander Brendon McCullum became the head coach and Stokes took over the leadership. They have played an aggressive brand of cricket termed as ”
Anderson also was full of praise for Stokes’ abilities as a leader, hailing him as the finest of the eight Test captains he has operated under.
Elaborating on Stokes’ traits, Anderson stated, “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,” he added.
England will first play a one-off Test against Ireland to prepare for the marquee series against Australia. The five Tests against Australia will then be played between June 16 to July 31.
–IANS
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