Aussies play a certain style of cricket, Hard but fair cricket: Border

Arguably one of the fiercest rivalries of all time is about to begin with Australia facing England on June 16, at Edgbaston. Fans all around the globe will be expecting some epic battles between the bat and ball when these two giants of the cricketing world clash. The visitors will be looking to retain their title which they won when the Ashes were held in their backyard, whereas the hosts will hope to get rid of the 4-0 scar, which they suffered in the 2021-22 Ashes series.

Keeping in mind that the stakes are certainly higher for this series, cricketing icon Allan Border wants Australia and Steve Smith in particular, to regain the tenacity that the team demonstrated just like his team did in his era. The 67-year-old made this statement citing Australia’s too-friendly nature against India in the recently concluded Test series.

When the spinners outwitted Steve Smith during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year in India, the Australian star would quickly offer them the thumbs-up in acknowledgement. Smith had previously also done this on multiple occasions to show his appreciation for the bowler.

"You can have that friendly rivalry without being excessive, like [Steve] Smith...in India, he gave the thumbs up every time he got a good ball. I'd be playing with a harder edge. We [Aussies] play a certain style of cricket. Hard, but fair cricket," he told the Daily Mail.

The former Australian World Cup-winning captain also went on to say that their Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand are the ‘Mr. Nice Guy’ XI with the kind of behaviour that they have on the field but Australians are known for their aggression, playing hard but fair cricket.

It's why you want to play the game, You want to be tested against the best: McCullum

Meanwhile, speaking of the English camp, head coach Brendon McCullum believes that his team has quality players for the big-pressure matches. Furthermore, he emphasized the fact that one plays cricket so that one can contest against the best.

"I think we have the quality in our team, and they have in theirs, for it to be a heavyweight contest, so I'm excited about that. Australians are formidable competitors. 'It's why you want to play the game. You want to be tested against the best and that is what we've got in front of us in the next couple of months," McCullum stated.