Australia's 'streetfighters' fear Freddie factor

Opener Justin Langer believes in the strength of his side's veterans but tells Sam Pilger of his respect for the awesome England captain

It was nearly 14 years ago, but Justin Langer can still clearly remember the advice the great Australian opener David Boon offered him during his difficult Test debut against the West Indies at the Adelaide Oval.

After suffering a brutal assault from Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose in which Langer was hit on the body several times and the team doctor was called on to the field, Boon approached him during a lunch break and said: "Young fella, I just want you to know that Test cricket will never get harder than this." For the following 12 and a half years, as Langer scored more than 6,000 runs over the course of 88 Tests, he was given no reason to doubt Boon's wisdom, but that was until the summer of 2005 when he faced Andrew Flintoff for the first time in Test cricket.

"While my debut was a real baptism of fire, coming up against Freddie last year was as challenging as anything I have ever faced in my career," admits Langer. "There is no doubt he more than equalled those great West Indians. He was brilliant throughout the 2005 series and I don't remember a single spell when he took his foot off the gas. The more a bowler bowls the easier it should get, but that never happened with Freddie. It was constantly difficult because he kept running in and hitting the bat hard. He was awesome. He is a hell of a nice bloke, too. Matty Hayden and I always have a bit of a giggle about it, because he would be bowling like one of the great West Indians, but it was hard to get into that fierce battle, because he was so laid-back. You couldn't actually dislike him. Maybe in this series we might have to paint a mask on him.

"We know we're in for an almighty battle with the whole team. They are an impressive squad, especially with the leadership and runs of Andrew Strauss, who will be a great foil for Flintoff, and the confidence of Kevin Pietersen, because if he has the courage to keep batting like he does, it doesn't matter if it is Australia or Bangladesh he will put teams on the back foot. With the ball, Harmison can be a match-winner and there is healthy competition between [Monty] Panesar and [Ashley] Giles. I don't see many weaknesses, maybe only that they don't have a leg-spin bowler." Despite Langer's admiration for England and their captain, he is full of bullish confidence that their hold on the Ashes will be brief and that Australia's defeat last year will come to be seen as a "a blip on the radar".

"For the last 12 months I have seen a committed team, who will not let anything distract them from winning the Ashes. Ever since we lost everything has been geared to getting the urn back. English cricket fans won't want to hear it, but the Australian cricket team is like a steel vault. No one can get inside to damage our spirit. I bet English people thought it was brilliant when John Buchanan and Shane Warne had their so-called slanging match because the perception was there were cracks appearing in the Australian team, but I was with both of them at the boot camp in Queensland and... in all my years playing Test cricket I have never seen a more united Australian team."

Langer, who turned 36 yesterday, will surpass Bill Brown as Australia's oldest regular opening batsman when he strides out with Matthew Hayden at the Gabba in the first Test. He vehemently dismisses recent suggestions that this Australian side's advancing years will make them vulnerable against England.

"We're getting older, but with that comes experience. We're not getting lazy, and sitting around with a blanket over our knees drinking cups of teas. These guys are like streetfighters now. You look at the physical condition of guys like Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist - they look like Olympians now. The hunger is still in all of us, just look in to Glenn McGrath's eyes. One thing I have learned in any sport is that you never write off a champion, the reason they are champions is because they keep coming back over and over again."

This Ashes series will be Langer's first Test since a blow to the head from Makhaya Ntini forced him to retire hurt with severe concussion during his 100th Test, against South Africa in Johannesburg, earlier this year. After briefly flirting with the idea of retirement, he tuned up for the coming series with six weeks at Somerset this summer during which he scored his highest first-class score of 342. As a batsman who has always improved with age, he is, for now, no longer thinking about the finishing line.

"I am inspired by the fact that Bobby Simpson played until 42, Sir Donald Bradman played until 40, Jack Hobbs scored a Test century at 46. History is littered with examples of guys who played to a late age. The English know about guys like Sir Steve Redgrave excelling as they get older. There are still goals to achieve for me, but as Steve Waugh said to me about eight months after he retired, 'It is amazing how much time you spend during your playing days worrying about your statistics, but as soon as you finish playing it is the last thing you think of ever again'.

"What motivates me now is to continue playing with my mates... I love playing under Ricky Ponting and I still want to become a better batsman."