Anderson vows to dish out verbal sledges to Oz batsmen during Ashes

London: England bowler James Anderson has promised to be aggressive and deal verbal sledging to Australian batsmen during the Ashes.

Anderson, undoubtedly England`s main attacking weapon given his career record of 307 wickets in 82 Tests, has been in a fine form already this summer and is raring to challenge the tourists with his combination of swerving and sledging. Stating that his job is to take wickets, Anderson, nicknamed as the Burnley Boomerang, has tried to work on imposing himself on opponent batsmen during the last few years, adding that he might be a little aggressive and deal out verbal sledging to the arch rivals during the series. Stating that he would primarily try to pressurise batsmen with his bowling skills, Anderson further said that at certain times he would go for sledging, adding that he is not planning on dishing out intelligent witticisms and would go with whatever comes in his mind at the moment. However, Anderson said that he would take care to keep his sledging targeted on specific players, adding that he would never try that method on players like former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who would use the verbal jousts to his advantage and fire up his performance. According to Anderson, although it is easy for some players to impose themselves on big, athletic batsmen like Chris Tremlett or Steven Finn, he tries to use more of words instead of his body to intimidate such players, as he does not have the proper build. However, Anderson said that he has devoted himself into channelling his aggression and trying to get into character each time he stepped on the field with team psychologist Mark Bawden, adding that he has also worked on trying to contain his anger and keep his focus on bowling. Meanwhile, Anderson said that his team did not expect to win the previous Ashes series as Australia had held the urn since the 1980s when he had first burst on to the scene in December 2002, as they knew that the Australians were better than them. Stating that they had a wrong mindset to start with, Anderson however, said that they have changed the mindset over the years and have got more confidence by winning Test matches and series against other countries, although he added that the retirements of key Australian players also helped in improving their confidence. Anderson has proved himself to be anything but the `pussy` Justin Langer famously branded him during the 2009 Ashes, establishing himself as one of the most feared bowlers in the world. ANI