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Anderson says England not psyched on '5-0 whitewash' of Oz in Ashes

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ANI Johannesburg

England bowling star James Anderson has said that his side is not focused on a 5-0 whitewash of the Ashes and is instead concentrating on the job in the hand ahead of the third Ashes Test against Australia at Old Trafford.

According to Sport24, Ashes-holders England have put themselves in pole position to retain the urn by going 2-0 up in the five-match series with victories at Trent Bridge and Lord's ahead of this week's clash at the Lancashire paceman's home ground.

Stating that England is not focusing on achieving a 5-0 Ashes win at the moment, Anderson, the series' joint leading wicket taker along with England off-spinner Graeme Swann, said that the best way to achieve a 5-0 sweep was to concentrate on one Test at a time.

 

Although England have never managed a 5-0 whitewash against their arch-rivals before, Anderson is not looking too far ahead in the series even if the result looked almost positive as he said that his side is concentrate on winning the current game and improve on the job that they have done in the first two Tests.

Stating that he is excited to play an Ashes Test at Old Trafford as he has not ever played the game there, Anderson further said that he was fortunate to see an Ashes game in 2005 and found the atmosphere incredible.

According to the report, although Old Trafford has undergone a 44 million-pound redevelopment which has seen the pavilion modernised, a conference centre built and the square turned so that pitches now face north-south rather than east-west axis, the surface remains helpful to slow bowlers.

Even though Monty Panesar has been added to England's squad as a second spinner, Anderson hoped that the pitch should have something in it for himself and the rest of England's faster bowlers, saying that there should be a bit of pace in the pitch as it had been lacking in the first two games for the seamers.

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First Published: Jul 31 2013 | 11:28 AM IST

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