England expects ferocious battle with Pakistan: Anderson

London: England fast bowler James Anderson expects a ferocious and heated battle with Pakistan next month as his side attempts to confirm their world No 1 status.

A leading daily quoted Anderson, 29, England`s premier fast bowler, as saying: "It was quite a spicy affair when Pakistan came to England last year. There`s definitely history there.” He added: "I`m not sure that the spot-fixing business will make a difference — it would have been a battle anyway because of the rivalry. Test cricket is not very friendly these days; you don`t have a beer at the end of the day.” "There will be tension but I don`t think it will be caused by the spot-fixing. It will be just because we are two competitive sides. There will be a lot of talk about the court case before we leave so it will be up to us to ignore it as much as possible,” Anderson said. "But I think it was the right outcome to the spot-fixing trial. There`s no place for anything like that in cricket. I`d like to think it is not rife within the sport and this is a one-off,” he added. Anderson said: "We want to stay No 1 for as long as possible. The way we do that is by winning series abroad. We seem to be a tough test at home but we really need to dominate away as well.” ANI