Attack Australia through Flintoff - Arthur

The Ashes 2009


Mickey Arthur, South Africa's coach, believes England need to get the attacking best out of Andrew Flintoff in this summer's Ashes. Arthur, who coached South Africa to a Test series victory over England last year, said Flintoff's approach toward the side then was not aggressive enough.

"We felt Andrew Flintoff bowled too negatively against South Africa last summer. I'd like to see him used as a more attacking option because he has the ability to do that," he told the Wisden Cricketer. "I would like to see Flintoff given the licence to attack along with James Anderson, whom we rated very highly when we faced him last year, while Stuart Broad is used as more of a control bowler, who will make the batsmen play and probe away around off stump."

Another bowler who Arthur singled out was Graeme Swann, expected to be England's first-choice spinner in Cardiff on July 8. "I've been very impressed with Graeme Swann, who has convinced me there can be a future for the orthodox offspinner in Test cricket, contrary to popular belief (and mine)," said Arthur. "He likes to bowl an attacking line which means he might go for more runs but he will take wickets, especially against the left-handers in Australia's top order. At the moment he is a better option than Monty Panesar, who had no variation against us in 2008."

While he commended the selectors' decision to bat Ravi Bopara at No. 3, Arthur was wary of how well Bopara would handle the pressure, and how England's batting would cope against Australia's pace attack. "England have been bold and made some proper decisions with selection: bringing in Ravi Bopara at No.3 and deciding on a five-man bowling attack with Matt Prior batting at six. There has been total clarity and no room for confusion," he said. "Players cannot say they don't know where they stand. My concern, though, is that in their quest to take 20 wickets they have put a huge amount of pressure on their five main batters.

"I was impressed with what I saw of Bopara against West Indies but he's still relatively untried and there is a huge amount of pressure on Kevin Pietersen. If Australia use the new ball well, then they could put the England top order under a lot of pressure. For me the key to the series is how well England's top five do as a unit. It's a really tough series to call."

Arthur felt the bowling attacks were fairly even, with England having a clear advantage with spin, but said Australia's batting had more depth.