Mitchell Johnson on Australia's Test series v Pakistan on this week's ICC Cricket World radio show
Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram predicts Australia will win next year's ICC Cricket World CupFormer West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh talks about his involvement with the Associate side Canada and the state of international cricketPodcast available for free download and editorial use from www.icc-cricket.com
On this week's ICC Cricket World audio show ICC Cricketer of the Year Australia's Mitchell Johnson reflects upon the 12 months in international cricket and looks ahead to the upcoming Test series his side has against Pakistan in England.
"I'm really looking forward to playing against the Pakistan side at Lord's in the Test series. It'll be good to play at Lord's again and I know the Pakistan side will have a huge support in the UK but we'll play our best cricket and hopefully we'll have some Australian fans there supporting us too," says Johnson.
"I think the Pakistan side is a strong one ? especially with the Akmal brothers who can really hit the ball and their bowling attack is particularly strong ? especially with the likes of Mohammad Aamer.
"It was very exciting to win the ICC Player of the Year award last year and looking back over the last twelve months it's been a big year for me personally as well as the team. This last year has been a challenge for me but I think we've got a strong bowling attack and we're looking ahead to the Pakistan Test series," says Johnson
Also on this week's show, former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram looks ahead to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 which gets underway in February next year.
"I think this World Cup will see a lot of runs since the tournament is bring played in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka ? the bowlers should probably prepare themselves now for it," says the ICC Cricket Hall of Famer.
"I think the bowlers will find it tough for the World Cup ? flat wickets, not so much spin ? they need to get lots of practice in ahead of the tournament.
"The current Pakistan side is multi-talented and great to watch but they are erratic with their game and you can never tell what's going to happen next so I think I'm going to predict Australia as the team to win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011," says Wasim.
The show can be used in whole or part by radio stations that want cricket content, while the public can also download it straight from the ICC website at http://www.icc-cricket.com/media_interactive_zone/podcast.php.
Joining Johnson and Wasim on this week's show is former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh who is currently bowling coach to Associate side Canada who are currently involved in ICC World Cricket League Division 1 in the Netherlands.
"I am in the Netherlands currently working with the Canada side as a bowling coach, working mainly with their fast bowlers. Canada are a good side but I am here to lift their bowlers and instil some professionalism in them to help them progress further," says Walsh.
"I think cricket can continue to have three formats, Twenty20, ODIs and Test cricket but I don't want to see the other two formats kill Test cricket. I think it's important that Test cricket remains everyone's main goal, it's a test of character, of playing ability and skill.
"I think Twenty20 is great as it brings new spectators to the game but ultimately we should be looking to have all three formats co-existing," says the former West Indies bowler who played 205 ODIs and 132 Tests for his country.
Apart from the above interviews, the show has the usual round up of cricketing news and an update of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test and ODI cricket.
The weekly ICC Cricket World audio show runs for 15 minutes and has been put together by the ICC's global broadcast partner ESPN STAR Sports.
