Michael Clarke has dismissed suggestions that his team are too old to win the Ashes, and hit back at Jason Gillespie's description of them as a "dad's army".
This is one of the oldest Australian squads to have toured England, with 10 of the 17 players older than 30, with Chris Rogers and Brad Haddin both 37. Even the inexperienced pair of Adam Voges and Fawad Ahmed, who have never played an Ashes Test, are 35 and 33 respectively.
Last week Gillespie, who was shortlisted to take over as England head coach, said that his fellow Australians are a "Dad's Army". He said: "I'd be thinking 'let's keep them out in the field'. Let's get them tired, they're old blokes. We can put these guys under pressure."
Usually most former Australian Test players act as unofficial cheerleaders for the team during Ashes series and Gillespie's comments have caused a stir back home.
 "Jason is entitled to his opinion - join the queue," Clarke said. "I've copped criticism all my career - it doesn't bother me - and there is a long list of people who have criticised this team. Might just add Dizzy to that queue of people."
Australia trained yesterday at Merchant Taylor's School and have a selection dilemma ahead of the first Test, with five fast bowlers competing for three slots.
Clarke believes that Mitchell Johnson, who terrorised England 18 months ago, is finding form after the tour to the West Indies.
"I am focused on how he is bowling right now and what I have seen today is a real positive for us," he said. "He is bowling with good pace. He used the West Indies tour really well to get his rhythm back, and he spent a lot of time working on things while he was out there. That's the skill of Mitchell now. If something doesn't feel quite right, he can actually fix it in a game.
"Watching the way he bowls, swinging the ball, seeing that rhythm he's got is a real positive sign for us. But, as with all players, it's about performance when you get on the field."
