“We can’t fear the Australians”

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England pace bowler Stuart Broad believes that the national team can give Australia a run for their money during the upcoming Ashes series next month.

Broad also admitted that England will be looking to avenge their 5-0 whitewashing in the last series in 2013-14.

“Australia are in fantastic form but we also have to remember that our record in England is really good,” he told Sky Sports. “Australia haven’t won an Ashes series in England since 2001, which is quite a long time, so we have to realise our strengths. We can’t fear the Australians, we can’t build the Australians up to be something they’re not.

“We have to go into the Ashes Series with a lot of belief that we can win that and perform to our ability.

“I actually believe that if we have our key players perform; the likes of Alastair Cook who has come back into some amazing form, we know the damage he can do at the top of the order, Joe Root in the middle and obviously we have got some good bowlers. I think if we perform to the best of our ability we will be right up there.”

Broad added that England gained some much-needed confidence from their recently concluded Test series against New Zealand, which ended as a 1-1 draw.

“We saw from the New Zealand series that when we played attacking, on-the-front-foot cricket it really suited us,” he said. “So the players will be keen to continue that sort of front-foot cricket. It’s exciting to watch, it’s exciting to play and if we do that I think the Ashes Series will be a special one to watch.”

The 28-year-old is also excited about working with newly appointed head coach Trevor Bayliss.

“To be honest I’ve never met Trevor,” he said. “But I’ve heard some really good reports, he likes the players to take responsibility, etc.”