Former Australian captain Allan Border has said that the experience and talent provided by senior players like Peter Siddle and Chris Rogers could be the key to the Aussies producing an unlikely victory in the Ashes series.
In 1989, Border captained the Aussies to an unlikely Ashes victory with what was described as the worst team to tour England, although he was able to instill confidence into the side, which ended up destroying England 4-0, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Despite similar claims being levelled at the current Test squad, Border is still optimistic that they can win, although he said that the retirements of former captain Rickey Ponting and Michael Hussey has robbed Australia of a lot of its grit, adding that someone from coach Mickey Arthur's former squad like Siddle and Rogers would need to fill that void.
Stating that the Australians needed to 'hunt as a pack' to have a chance of knocking off England in the Ashes, Border further said that Rogers and Siddle, who have been around the team for a long time, are ' hard-nosed' players who will be able to pull the young players into line and galvanise the team.
According to Border, the side is missing the hard-nosed players to show them the way, the work ethic required at nets, adding that being underdogs, Australia needed to strike at the time when they are not given any chance.
Meanwhile, Border stated that a 'divisive group does not win the key moments' and urged captain Michael Clarke and Arthur to find a way to bring the team together, adding that buoyed by their strong bowling attack, the batting would need to dig in against England's strike bowlers James Anderson and Graeme Swann.
