England pacer James Anderson today stated that they are capable of beating Sri Lanka and India hollow in the twin Test series this summer to move to the top of the ICC Test rankings.
Published: May 24, 2011, 10:20 AM (IST)
Edited: May 24, 2011, 10:20 AM (IST)
England pacer James Anderson at the practice nets © Getty Images
London: May 24, 2011
England pacer James Anderson today stated that they are capable of beating Sri Lanka and India hollow in the twin Test series this summer to move to the top of the ICC Test rankings.
The seamer cautioned that both Lanka and India will have to pay the price if England wants to be world’s top-ranked Test nation and the home team will look to close the gap for the pole position.
England are currently third in the rankings and will get a chance to inch closer to the top spot in the next seven Test matches —three of which will be against Sri Lanka followed by a four-Test series against world’s top Test team India.
“We have made no secret of our ambition and our desire to become the best team in the world. That is not just an airy-fairy target. It is our expressed goal and we’re serious. To do it, the minimum requirement against Sri Lanka and India is to win, but if you want to move up the rankings you need to win convincingly. So, we’ll set out to win 3-0 and 4-0,” Anderson wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
Anderson, who played a key role in England’s Ashes triumph in Australia, said the first Test against Sri Lanka in Cardiff beginning this week will be first step towards that direction.
“The first game in Cardiff this week will be massive. We don’t want to give Sri Lanka a sniff or let them settle into the series. We want to hit them hard from the moment we get on the field either with bat or ball. We want to be the World no. 1 and if we do achieve that we will have to be the best England team there has ever been. We want to create our own legacy and set an example for the next generation and show them what can be achieved,” he said.
© PTI
