Waugh attacks England

England's leading cricket players lack toughness and the hunger to succeed and do not combine well as a team, according to Mark Waugh, the Australian batsman. In comments likely to inflame old rivalries in the upcoming Ashes tour, Waugh predicted Australia would exploit those weaknesses to record an easy win in the six-Test series.

"I look at the England team on paper and think they are good players, but they aren't tough enough or hungry enough on the field," said Waugh in an interview in an Australian magazine published yesterday.

"They don't play as a team, they worry about themselves. When you're out there, you don't feel you've got 11 guys against you," Waugh added. "Man for man they are not that far behind us, but they lack hunger."

Waugh, a veteran of 63 Tests, said England miss a quality spinner, dismissing Phil Tufnell as a threat. "Off-spinner Robert Croft is probably the best - I rate him highly. Phil Tufnell is back in the fray but I don't see him as a danger. I see him as a fairly weak sort of player who relies on you to make a mistake. He's not going to get you out."

But there was praise for one English cricketer - Yorkshire's Darren Gough. "He's always trying 100 per cent, having a go, trying a bumper, a slower ball. If he starts bowling well, he's a dangerous man because he can lift the rest of the team."