Former England captain Mike Gatting has laughed off suggestions Alastair Cook’s men could face an Australia ‘backlash’ when they defend the Ashes later this year.

Despite losing the recent Ashes series in England by a convincing 3-0 margin, the Australia camp have been in bullish mood ahead of the return campaign which starts with the first Test in Brisbane in November.

But Gatting, who led England to Ashes glory in Australia in 1986-87, told BBC Sport on Monday: “What are they (Australia) going to backlash us (England) with?”

“Have they found another Shane Warne or a Glenn McGrath?” added former batsman Gatting, famously dismissed by leg-spin great Warne’s ‘ball of the century’ at Old Trafford in 1993.

“Yes, the Aussies did improve over the course of the series but you would expect them to improve because Australians are proud cricketers.

“They had a good bowling attack but sadly their batsmen let them down.

“We had the quality to win the important moments, with the ball or with the bat,” Gatting said of an England side that has now won three successive Ashes series.

“We were quite consistent, but the Australians had inconsistencies throughout.

“If the two teams are pretty much the same, I wouldn’t expect the result to be any different.”