03 August,2009 08:49 AM IST | | Khalid A-H Ansari
Dismayed at Australia's bowling attack's below-par performance in the Ashes series so far, spin legend Shane Warne has called on them to start sledging and rediscover their "nasty streak" to avoid losing.
Slamming them for lack of aggression, Warne, the champion sledger in his playing days, questioned why Australia's bowlers were not subjecting the England batsmen with a verbal barrage.
"I think the Australians are lacking aggression, a bit of in your face, a snarl, some nasty stuff," Warne told the media in Birmingham yesterday.
"I just want to see them get a bit more aggressive," he said, "its all a bit too friendly. They don't seem to want to be saying anything to the batsmen, getting in their face or pumping their chests out.
"Australian teams play at their best when they are in the face of the opposition.
"But these inexperienced cricketers don't now how to do that. (Graham) Onions and (Jimmy) Andersen bowled with a long stare, a hostile spell and there was aggression. There hasn't been that from Australia.
"When Peter Siddle is at his best he has got that snarl, but I haven't really seen that from him. It's just weird to me.
"The best way for Mitchell Johnson to find his confidence is to get really nasty."
The spin legend also wondered whether the Aussies' meek approach was the result of Cricket Australia's pre-tour warning to its players that they should desist from spitting, swearing or claiming dropped catches.
A pre-tour survey had reportedly revealed that Australian fans wanted players to be "strongly competitive without displaying visible aggression."
"I did read some reports from Cricket Australia saying that we don't want any sledging, we want to play in the right spirit, all those sorts of things," Warne said.
Maybe they are worried about the repercussions."
Meanwhile, Ricky Ponting, who broke Allan Border's Australian run record of 11,174 runs at Edgbaston on Saturday said he had bitter-sweet feelings of the achievement when he failed to make a big score while his side was being choked by England's pace attack.
"He (Border) was known as a very tough competitor," Ponting said of his predecessor who led Australia in 93 Tests between 1984 and 1994.
"He was always the one who was there to play the captain's innings when it was required. He typified what it was to be an Australian cricketer back then.
"He was as tough as anyone to play the game and when the cricket was at its toughest was when he stood up to be counted."
Only two Test batsmen u2013 Sachin Tendulkar (12,773 runs) and Brian Lara (11,953) have scored more runs than Ponting.
The Tasmanian has a distinguished record as Australia captain u2013 38 wins from 58 Tests for a winning percentage of almost 66, behind Steve Waugh's percentage of 71 with 541 wins from 57 Tests.
