• Ashes

Anderson: No love lost with Aussies

Jimmy Anderson says England's post-Ashes drinks with Australia were "strange" © Getty Images

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Jimmy Anderson insists there is no love lost between himself and Australia, and admitted England were lucky to win this summer's Ashes.

Tempers flared throughout a series which England won 3-0 to retain the Ashes. Stuart Broad was castigated as a "cheat" by Australia coach Darren Lehmann for failing to walk after an edge in England's narrow first Test win. Kevin Pietersen was also left furious after an Australian news channel accused him of using silicone tape to try to hoodwink the hot spot system in the Third Test.

David Warner also threw a punch at Joe Root in a Birmingham bar after England's Champions Trophy win over Australia in June prior to the Ashes. Warner was subsequently dropped for the first two Tests.

"I don't not get on with them," Anderson told The Independent. "We had a beer at the end of the series but it was quite strange. Because you're thinking at the back of your mind that you don't want to give too much away because you're going to see them in a few weeks. So it was quite odd.

"It is difficult. It doesn't really happen with any country. Unless you play with them in county cricket or the IPL or whatever, it's hard to build a relationship with the opposition. Because the schedule is that tight, that you're just going from game to game, playing against each other, there's no time in between just to chat.

"At the start of the [2006-07 Ashes] series they were ignoring us. You would walk past people that you knew would just blank you, they made a point of doing that."

England may have secured their third consecutive Ashes win this summer, but Anderson concedes they were far from their best.

"We didn't play well, and we were scrapping like mad to try to keep ourselves in games and to try to win games," he said.

"At the end of the day, we won a Test series and that's what we set out to do. As much as we'd love to entertain everyone, hit sixes and bowl people out quickly, it doesn't always happen like that. And sometimes you've just got to try to win any way you can."

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