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Conflict in Aussie camp and declining bowlers offer Ashes hope to England, says Nasser Hussain

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain believes that conflict in the Australian camp and a decline in the potency of the home side’s bowlers are two factors which offer encouragement to England’s prospects in the Ashes series.

Writing in the December issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Hussain says: “There is definitely conflict in the Australian camp between Buchanan and Warne and certain other players who just don’t have much time for Buchanan’s theories.

Uncertainty over the make up of the bowling attack is another potential bonus for England, according to Hussain. “For the first time in a long while, Australia are not certain about the make-up of their bowling line-up. They don’t have the luxury of a settled and proven four-man attack that has served them so well for years.

“The McGrath-Warne axis is the greatest bowling partnership of all time and although still formidable, there are signs of decline there too. England will feel that if they can get through McGrath’s new-ball spell and the occasional wonderful spell from Warne there will be runs to be had elsewhere. Stuart MacGill is likely to play at least a couple of Tests and while he is an excellent leg-spinner, he does bowl the odd bad delivery. England definitely have the batsmen to score heavily on good pitches.”

For England to be successful, Hussain says that Steve Harmison has to achieve his potential as one of the best bowlers in world cricket, rather than settle for mediocrity: “On his day Steve Harmison can be the best bowler in the world. He has exactly what it takes to be successful in Australia: height, pace and bounce. And the Australians fear him. But what I would want from him is consistency.

“The issue for Steve is about not settling for mediocrity: he has got to strive to be the best. He has to perform not in one Test in five but in three or four in five. After he took 11 wickets at Old Trafford this summer I would have wanted him to work doubly hard, to make even more sacrifices so that he became not just the best in England, but the best in the world. I don’t know if he has been making those sacrifices. Steve is a rhythm bowler – he has to go to the nets and bowl for an hour every day of his life. Every day. “

Botham or Flintoff? Imran or Kapil? Sobers or Miller? It's a question that's fuelled arguments in pubs around the cricket world for years. Now Cricinfo, in association with Volkswagen Touareg, has launched a brand new site to help establish the identity of cricket's greatest allrounders once and for all.

http://www.cricinfo.com/greatestallrounder

To kick it off, we've made our initial selection of 20 of the all-time greats. Every week we'll be profiling one of the greatest allrounders in the history of the game - week one is Andrew Flintoff.

We will also provide you with a wealth of accompanying video profiles and stats articles. And you can have your say in the Greatest Allrounder blog.

There's also the small matter of a competition to win a trip to the Ashes. So if you're not already on the way to Australia, you can enter here.

Cricinfo's popular Fantasy Cricket returns for the eagerly anticipated Ashes series.

The game covers the 5 Ashes Tests and there is £10,000 worth of prizes on offer, including a luxury holiday, £5,000 in cash prizes, signed books, t-shirts and much more.

Following the popular fantasy formula, the game allows you to select your composite XI from the players who will be featuring in the Ashes series. Points are accumulated according to your players' performances in the series.

To add another level of excitement, you can challenge your mates and run your own super-leagues via the “Friends & Enemies league” area of the site, once you have registered a team.

The "groundzone" concept returns - players get extra points for runs scored in certain areas and our exclusive live points updates, where your score will mount (or fall) as the action in the series unfolds.

And last - but not least - there will be an overall score for England fans vs Australia fans - so we'll have a winner for the Virtual Ashes!

So sign up here to stand a chance of walking away with the prizes. Good luck!