The Australian cricket team – headed by new coach Darren Lehmann – spoke on Monday as they prepare to take on Worcestershire in a final four-day warm-up match ahead of the Ashes.
Darren Lehmann, Australia Coach:“Very much so. If we can get near that again that would be great. I would probably like a couple of blokes to make some hundreds but apart from that we will be playing an aggressive brand (of cricket) and getting a result and making sure that everyone gets the best chance to put their foot forward for selection for the first Test.”
“…and he (Michael Clarke) is fine, he has pulled up alright so hopefully tomorrow is the same. I mean it is a back issue (injury) and he knows about it better than most and so does Alex the physio so we are guided by those two but he seems pretty good at the moment.”
“We deserve to be underdogs to be fair (in the Ashes series). They (England) have been very good for a long time now. We are going to have to be at our best, we know that but it will be a tighter series than everyone thinks i reckon.”
Brad Haddin, Australia:“Darren (Lehmann) is good. He is…he brings a wealth of cricket knowledge to the Australian team. He is well respected here and at home so he has fitted in great and out his stamp on the team.”
Mitchell Starc, Australia“Darren has done it on both sides of the fence as a coach and as a player obviously. It has been great since he has come in and the boys have been excited and shown a lot of fun and it has been a great environment to be in. A lot of fun and i think it has shown in how we have prepared for that game in Somerset and now how we are preparing for this game tomorrow.”
Brad Haddin, Australia“I think these games are very important. There is always places up for grabs and we want to make sure we perform the best we possibly can and put our gameface on come tomorrow and get the best practice out of it we can. The bottom line is we want to still win the game.”
Ed Cowan, Australia“We know that if we are going to win we are going to have to play strong consistent cricket for the duration of Test matches and we know that games can turn really quickly over here so we know our best is good enough – but it is a question of finding that best for long enough over the course of five Tests.”
