Former England captain Mike Atherton has endorsed Justin Langer's scathing assessment of England players' in his leaked dossier, saying the home players lack the mental toughness and self-belief to win the Ashes.
At the start of the most high-pressure week of the Ashes series with the deciding fifth Test at The Oval starting on Thursday, Atherton has hit out at England.
"Aggressive batting, running and body language will soon have them (England players) staring at their bootlaces," Atherton wrote in his column for 'The Times'.
Langer had claimed in his dossier that England's players "rarely believe in themselves" and were soft, lazy and superficial.
Atherton said Australia and England were evenly matched in skill but Ricky Ponting's men boast superior mental toughness and would never roll over like the English players did in three days in the fourth Test at Headingley.
"One thing this Australia team have in common with their predecessors is toughness, a soul-deep toughness that, at the critical moment, befriended them again while deserting their opponents," he said.
"The real insight from Langer came not from his deciphering of England's technical shortcomings but of their temperaments. Langer is suitably embarrassed about the leaking of his plans. But didn't England do a splendid job of proving him right at Headingley?" Atherton said.
The former Test opener claimed that young England fast bowler Stuart Broad did not understand the concept of mental toughness.
Before the fourth Test, Broad said England were a tough team and were happy to stare Australia in the eye.
"Broad is a promising young cricketer, but listening to his comments, he misunderstands the true nature of mental toughness. Maybe other England players do too," Atherton said.
"Toughness has nothing to do with staring, sledging or ganging up on the opposition. It has everything to do with an ability to execute hard-won skills under maximum pressure. Broad showed how little he understands of the essence of Australia's competitive instinct."
