England must charm locals to win Ashes Down Under: Arthur

LONDON - Former South Africa coach Mickey Arthur, who plotted the Proteas victory Down Under, has said that England must charm the locals if they want to beat Australia.

Arthur, now Western Australia coach, said: “A lot of teams come here and are intimidated. You have to embrace it. That means being accessible and available to spend time with fans.”

“We signed a lot of autographs, which helped create a favourable impression. But on our previous tour here, we were very defensive and it was about us and them,” he said.

“We felt that, if we could put Australia under pressure, they might not react well. Australia are great when they get in front and make the running but we wanted to see what they were like trying to come from behind,” The Sun quoted him, as saying.

“We made sure we focused on our plans rather than look at the opposition. You can become intimidated if you look at Australia in isolation. There are now questions about whether Australia have lost their aura,” Arthur said.

“But they will be a very good outfit in the Ashes series and you write them off at your peril. England has become a really good side under both Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower.

“They remind me of Graeme Smith and I working together for South Africa. It will be close but I’ll go for a 2-1 win for Australia,” he added. (ANI)