England director of cricket Andrew Strauss has revealed that he expects new head coach Trevor Bayliss to bring an aggressive approach into the upcoming Ashes series.
England go into the summer as underdogs against a buoyant Australia following a tumultuous period of their own, but recent performances against New Zealand and the arrival of Bayliss have led some to suggest that the hosts are capable of regaining the urn.
Strauss is expecting England to take the series to Australia, but warned that the heat of an Ashes showdown can result in some players crossing the line on the field.
"I think we'll see England cricketers encouraged to go out and play with a bit of aggression, a bit of flair and be encouraged to take the game to the opposition. I think we can over-hype an Ashes series which maybe puts the players under more pressure to be really aggressive," Strauss told Sportsweek.
"You can be very aggressive with the way you play, you don't necessarily need to do it with the way you speak to the opposition and all that sort of stuff. Trevor's method all the way through his career has been to take pressure off players, so he's a very good communicator, builds very good relationships with players.
"[You ease pressure] by creating a very relaxed environment and not over-thinking things, not over-analysing things. Making sure there's a very simple guiding philosophy about what you expect the players to do and then ultimately allowing the players to go and play the games that they can under a lot of pressure. Ultimately international sport is about dealing with the pressure more than anything else."
The first Test of this summer's Ashes series takes place in Cardiff from July 8-12.
Barney Corkhill
