Cook warns Oz to stop pressurising Anderson or face downfall at Lord's

England captain Alastair Cook has warned Australia against pressurising bowler James Anderson, saying that it would be a mistake to disrespect the other members of England's bowling attack.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia's clear tactic in the first Test was to take down Steven Finn so Cook would have to bring Anderson back into the attack sooner than he wanted, and to force Anderson to bowl as many overs as possible.

However, the report said that Anderson's return proved to be Haddin's and Australia's downfall despite him succeeding in taking down Finn, as Anderson took 10 wickets, the last of which condemned the tourists to a 14-run defeat.

Warning Australia that their tactic may backfire again at Lord's, Cook said that their ploy is disrespectful of the three other bowlers, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn and Graeme Swann, as they are world-class bowlers in their own right even though Anderson is the leader of the attack.

According to Cook, Broad is almost coming up to 200 Test wickets, Swann has achieved 230 Test wickets while Finn is the fastest England player to grab 50 Test wickets, adding that the trio's and Anderson's combined achievements show the strength in their squad.

Cook further said that even though Anderson managed to clinch the game at Trent Bridge, it was Broad who got 7-44 the last time they played at Lord's.

Meanwhile, Clarke's name is on the honour board at Lord's and high on England's hit list for this Ashes, with Swann saying that 'cut the head off the serpent'.

However, Clarke said that it looks like England is working on a plan to dry him up because through his career there have been times when he got off to good or quick starts.