Former Australia captain Tim Paine feels England’s predictability and egoistic approach will give Australia the edge ahead of the second Ashes Test. The second game of the five-match series will take place at Lord’s in London from Wednesday, June 28. Australia will head into the match after a thrilling two-wicket win in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

While previewing the game on SEN Breakfast, Paine said: “We had a number of our good players down and I think our depth and our ability to play any situation and any condition and at any tempo is a real advantage in this series given we know how England are going to play. They are going to come really hard and it makes them quite predictable. We know how they are going to play, they will play into our hands a little bit and we can play on their ego.”

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However, Tim Paine also said that the green wicket at Lord’s will help Australia as well. While saying that the surface has been prepared to bring Stuart Broad and James Anderson back into the game, he further shared that the England batters will find it extremely difficult to bat on. He also believes that the England batters’ inability to play Pat Cummins forces them to play aggressively also.

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“Our depth and the fact that some of our very best players were down means I think we will get better as the series goes on. They seem to rely on too few for me at the moment. They know that they can’t face Pat Cummins for long periods of time without making mistakes, so they try and get you before you get them effectively. If you can stem their boundaries and make them work a little bit harder for their runs, we saw in the first Test that they are not good enough for long enough. Just try to cut the runs while they are in there and know you will create chances,” he concluded.