Cricket: Secret dossier labels England 'lazy and shallow'

Former Australian opener Justin Langer compiled a secret dossier on England's weaknesses for the current Ashes series. Photo / Getty Images

LONDON - Australia's former opening batsman Justin Langer has branded England cricketers "lazy", "shallow" and "flat" in a secret dossier distributed to the Australian team before the latest Ashes test series began.

Langer compiled the lengthy document to provide a series of inside tips highlighting England's weak spots for the touring side before the first test began in Cardiff.

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper in Britain printed extracts of the leaked dossier, in which Langer describes England captain Andrew Strauss as being "conservative" and fast bowler James Anderson as "a bit of a pussy".

"English players rarely believe in themselves," Langer wrote in his dossier.

"Many of them stare a lot and chat a lot but this is very shallow. They will retreat very quickly.

"Aggressive batting, running and body language will soon have them staring at their bootlaces rather than in the eyes of their opponent - it is just how they are built."

Langer noted that England's team "will be up" when things are going well, but "taper off very quickly if you wear them down".

"Because they play so much cricket as soon as it gets a bit hard you just have to watch their body language and see how flat and lazy they get," he wrote.

"This is also a time when most of them make all sorts of excuses and start looking around to point the finger at everyone else - it is a classic English trait from my experience."

On individual England players, Langer said while Anderson had improved significantly he "can be a bit of a pussy if he is worn down".

"His body language could be detrimental to them (England) if we get on top of him early," he wrote.

Of Strauss, who was once Langer's teammate at Middlesex, the Australian said while the England captain was "a very solid character and excellent bloke" his weakness was his conservative approach.

"He will tend to take the safer options in most cases," Langer said.

And on the controversial topic of sledging, Langer dismissed Cricket Australia's call for the tourists to refrain from taunting England players and even suggested they target wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

"I would chip away at him about his wicketkeeping," Langer suggested.

"I would be reminding him about how it could see him out of the team. I would definitely work his ego."

- AAP