The former England captain has urged pitch curators against preparing flat decks

Former England all-rounder Ian Botham has urged the English pitch curators not to prepare 'flat' tracks as it would hamper the side's chances of reclaiming the Ashes.

It is expected that England are planning to counter-attack the Aussie pace battery by preparing slow and lifeless pitches that would nullify the extra pace and bounce of Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc.

Botham, however, believes that such a move would prove counter-productive and could go against the hosts.

Botham said that they don't want flat wickets as it would be right into Australia's hands, newscom.au reported.

He insisted that if they play on good sporting pitches, England have got as good a chance as Australia.

Botham has also suggested that James Anderson and Stuart Broad have to 'perform and be aggressive', while it depended on skipper Alastair Cook to match the on field intent of his Australian counterpart Michael Clarke.

The first Ashes Test starts on July 8 in Cardiff.