London, Nov 15 (AFP) England must silence the baying homecrowds if they are to stand any chance of getting on top ofAustralia during the upcoming Ashes series, said formerspinner Graeme Swann.
Swann, who retired mid-way through England's ill-fatedtour in 2013/14, described the noise levels at the Gabba inBrisbane, hosting the first Test from November 23, as"unbelievable" and even louder than Real Madrid's homesupporters.
England are the current Ashes holders but go into thelion's den on the back of two 5-0 whitewashes in their pastthree tours Down Under, although Swann was a key part of theside that won 3-1 in 2010/11.
"The thing you've got to do is stop the noise and theeasy way to do that in Australia is to get on top of them,"said Swann, adding that England's senior players such asAlastair Cook and captain Joe Root would have to lead from thefront.
"If you get on top of the team, they'll quickly turn ontheir own but obviously the hard bit is getting on top ofthem," he said, speaking at the launch of BT Sport's Ashescoverage in London in his capacity as a pundit.
"It's the most unique wicket in the world, more thanPerth, it's quicker than Perth," he added.
"It does a lot off the seam, especially early on, so youget a lot of slip catches there. It's just very alien toanywhere else you bat in the world so teams struggle." Former England skipper Michael Vaughan, a fellow BTpundit, agreed that Brisbane offers unique challenges totouring teams.
"I always think of all the venues, Brisbane to me is theone venue where when you go out to bat you're not just facingone bowler, you're facing 40,000.
"It just feels that the whole of Australia are watchingyou. They're the nastiest of the crowds. No idea why but theydo seem to know exactly that they can get to the Englandside." - Batting issues - ================== Swann said he had more confidence in England's powerfulmiddle and lower order batting than the top-order batting,which is light on experience, but said the home side haveproblems of their own.
"It's not an ideal thing but I think the Australians arein the same boat," he said. "I think the Australians have got(David) Warner and (Steve) Smith in the top five who areundoubtedly world class.
"We've got Cook and Root who are undoubtedly world class.
I think they've got some holes that haven't been completelyfilled." Australia are favourites, according to Vaughan, but arealso not the finished article, and, with James Pattinsonalready out, would struggle if fellow paceman Mitchell Starcgot injured.
Swann described his fellow off-spinner Moeen Ali as a"brilliant" batsman and said he could play a crucial role forEngland with both bat and ball, especially given the likelyabsence, at least from the first Test, of talismanic all-rounder Ben Stokes.
"I hope he (Ali) goes over there believing he's abrilliant bowler as well because he is. He really can bowl buthe still doesn't believe it," said Swann, adding: "He'sworld-class when he wants to be with the ball." Stokes is suspended and remains at home awaiting theoutcome of a police probe into his involvement in a brawloutside a nightclub but the England and Wales Cricket Boardhave not yet ruled him out of the Ashes altogether.
And what about the chances of an easing in hostilitiesbetween the two fierce rivals? Pugnacious opener Warner fired up the tourists last monthby comparing playing against England to "war" and said heplanned to take "some sort of hatred" into the Tests beforeappearing to row back from his comments.
So is he a changed man? "Leopards don't change their spots," said Swann. "He'sstill the bloke who punched Joe Root in a pub." (AFP) ATAT.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.