SOUTHAMPTON (England), April 11: England rather than Australia will be under pressure in this year’s Ashes series, according to Shane Warne. The ace Australia leg-spinner, speaking at a press conference at Hampshire county cricket club, brushed off suggestions that the Australians were worried about losing after dominating the last eight series against England since 1986-87.

“Everybody expects England either to win or compete or at least do well. People are saying they’ve got a chance for the first time for a while. I think that puts the pressure on them,” he said.

“We are looking forward to the battle but I don’t think we are thinking about being the team that loses the Ashes.

“Hopefully it will be one of the great series but for that to happen England will have to play well. But there is so much that can happen, with injuries or form, before the series starts.”

England, who have moved up to second in the world ranking behind the Australians, host Bangladesh over two Tests in May and June before taking on Ricky Ponting’s side over five Tests from July to September.

Warne, as Hampshire’s skipper, will be in charge of Kevin Pietersen who broke through into England one-day side earlier in the year against South Africa.

“From a purely selfish point of view it would be great if he was around here all the time. He has shown he’s an exciting talent, he’s passionate about the game and wants to get better,” he said.

“He’s got a good head on his shoulders and the way he has stormed on the international scene is so exciting. I hope he plays in the Test matches, which I’m sure he will, and the one-dayers. It’s all about grabbing your chance.

“He got 40 against me when he was playing with Nottinghamshire and next time I got him out second ball, so I guess it is 1-1 between us. He knows what he’s doing.”—Reuters