Australia may be getting ready to begin their Test series with India on Thursday, but many eyes are already turning to next summer's Ashes series in England. England reclaimed the little urn in 2005 after an 18-year wait, but were whitewashed 5-0 by the Australians last winter. Back on home soil, hopes are high that England can really present a strong challenge once again and it is the all-rounder Andrew Flintoff who holds the key to the series, according to former Australian opening batsman Justin Langer.
Langer, who retired from international cricket following last year's Ashes, faced Flintoff in the last two Test series between England and Australia and believes his former rival has no match in global cricket. He said: "He is a truly brilliant bowler - the best I've ever faced - and it's no coincidence England play their best cricket when he's about. He's got everything as a cricketer - he's got a great engine, he's got pace, he's got the technical skill and he absolutely loves playing for England. It's contagious.
"And I'm not on my own with this. It's not just us the Aussies that think that but I'd say he's generally regarded by everyone as the best bowler out there right now. If he's firing during the Ashes - and there's no question he will be - he could well be the difference between Australia winning and losing." Langer, 37, has faced some of the game's greatest bowlers during his 105-Test career but said he did not miss having to play against Flintoff, the star man in the 2005 Ashes.
"Honestly, the overriding positive feeling about having retired from international cricket is not having that big b****** charging in at me," he said. "He can't exactly win a series by himself but he can have a good try. Of course us Aussies will end up winning the Ashes but Freddie will have a good go at us." Langer returned to Australia last week for a break after just missing out on leading the English county side Somerset to the LV Championship title in a tense final day of the season. Somerset lost their final encounter against Flintoff's Lancashire - although Flintoff was missing for the game - as Durham took the title.
And Langer said he had no regrets about last season at Taunton. He said: "We've drawn a lot of games but I don't look back and rue any that we should have won as it's been out of our hands. It's just been so wet. "I got a text from former Aussie coach John Buchanan this week asking why we'd drawn so many matches. And I told him it's the rain. We've not had a single championship game that hasn't been affected by the rain. It's absolutely incredible and that, combined with some flat wickets, have meant very few sides have managed to bag 20 wickets.
"What it meant was a grandstand finish to the season with everything still to play for a lot of counties. We were one of them, which was great . It just wasn't to be." Langer will return to lead Somerset for at least another season during the next English summer after appearing in the Indian Premier League for the second time. The former Australian opener has a deal to play for the Rajasthan Royals, who were captained to victory by Shane Warne in the inaugural IPL series earlier this year.
However, Langer has no immediate plans to think of retiring but admitted he was relishing the chance of a brief break. "Going back home is fantastic as I have no plans to play cricket," he said. "It'll be the first time I've had a break from cricket of over a week for about three years and it feels like the body needs it. I'm more achy than I used to be but I'll probably get itchy feet about not playing and be desperate to get back into the game.
"At the moment, I'm sort of thinking about next season as my last but I've said that a couple of times before and, when it's come to it, I've not been able to give it up." Despite the IPL taking shape and other riches flooding into cricket - most notably in the form of the US$20million (Dh73,461m) Stamford series between England and West Indies next month - Langer has no regrets about his career coming to an end.
"I haven't got a single complaint," he said. "I've done something that I love every day for about 25 years. It's paid me handsomely so I don't need to worry about my family. Sure, I wouldn't mind playing a game in the West Indies for a million bucks like England are next month but I've done alright thanks very much." mmajendie@thenational.ae
