"I just like not knowing them away from cricket" - James Anderson on the battle with Australian players ahead of Ashes 2023

England spearhead James Anderson believes that his lack of friendship with the Australian players helps him maintain a competitive edge ahead of the upcoming Ashes series. The marquee series is set to get underway at Edgbaston starting on Friday, June 16.

Anderson has played an unprecedented 179 Tests for England, picking up 685 wickets at an average of 25.99 with 32 five-wicket hauls. The 40-year-old is England's leading wicket-taker in Tests and third all-time behind only Sri Lankan Wizard Muthiah Muralidaran and Australian late great Shane Warne.

Ahead of the upcoming Ashes series, Anderson told the Telegraph sport:

"I just like not knowing them away from cricket, not being mates with them. I just like seeing them as an opponent and really trying to get into the battle against them. I don’t think it has happened yet but the amount of cricket played in franchise cricket with the mix of nationalities could in the future take the edge away from the spark you get in the Ashes."

Anderson has featured in the Ashes since the 2006/07 series in Australia and has picked up 112 wickets against the Aussies with five 5-wicket hauls. His best bowling figures were 6/47 in the third Test at Edgbaston in 2015.

The veteran pacer also expressed his wish to be part of an Ashes-winning team after a long time and expects the contest to be a battle between two teams who will fight fire with fire.

"I just want to win the Ashes again. It feels like a long time since I’ve been involved in a winning Ashes. Whenever I play against Australia they try and play fire with fire. They come back even harder at you. Usually that ends with England backing down, perhaps not this time. I am guessing Ben will want to go even harder. He will want to be more positive, more aggressive and really take it to Australia,” added Anderson.

England's last Ashes series win came in the 2014/15 series at home, with the Aussies retaining the urn since the 2017/18 series Down Under. Anderson bowled only four overs in the 2019 edition in England before walking off the field and missing the rest of the tournament due to a calf injury.

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"I have really enjoyed this environment" - James Anderson on the Stokes-McCullum Partnership

Stokes and McCullum have transformed England's style in Test cricket

James Anderon praised the combination of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, crediting them for the clarity in roles and the excellent atmosphere the duo has created for the England team.

McCullum's partnership with skipper Ben Stokes has worked wonders for England, who have won 10 of the 12 Tests thus far, playing an attacking brand of cricket, popularly referred to as 'Bazball'.

"The great thing about both of them is the relaxed approach to everything whether it is selection or injuries. A captain and coach stressing about team selection, pitches or things like that has a knock-on effect so their manner really does filter through the team and makes everyone else feel comfortable. I have really enjoyed this environment, having fun around practice, messing around with different things in training," said Anderson.

"I remember back to practice we had at the Oval last summer, me and Ben were messing about in the middle, trying different angles to our run ups and trying to swing the ball more than the other one. Just having fun around it. They want us to attack, take wickets and to try different things that might not be in our armoury. It’s just thinking constantly about how you are going to get the batter out,” he added.

Under the duo, England completed a clean sweep (3-0) of New Zealand at home and a home series win (2-1) against South Africa. Later in 2022, England also won their Test series (3-0) in Pakistan, becoming the first team to whitewash the home team in cricket history.

They began this year on a similar note in the two-Test series in New Zealand, demolishing the Kiwis by 267 runs in the first Test before losing a thrilling second Test by one run.