Australian team take the help of Usain Bolt ahead of their 1st Ashes Test vs England

England's defence of the Ashes begins on Thursday when the first Test against Australia gets underway in Brisbane. Though the tourists are the holders of the famous urn, Australia remain the favourites to win the five-match Test series on home turf.

For strengthening their claim, Australia cricket team called Bolt so that they can improve their performance in the upcoming series. Now,  the world record holder in the 100m and 200m and eight-time Olympic champion, is working with the Australian batsmen to improve their "explosiveness" off the mark. 

"It's all about explosiveness, and that’s one thing I’ve noticed with cricket -- they don’t really have a lot of explosiveness when they're running," Bolt told the Herald Sun newspaper.

"They seem to always take off at a slow rate. Getting that right will definitely help people."

The 31-year-old, who retired from athletics after August's World Championships in London, said he was trying to focus on running during batting. Australian batsman Handscomb stated that Bolt's tips were welcomed ahead of Thursday's Test.

"He was giving us a few pointers on how to get a little bit faster. We'll give it a crack,” Handscomb said, "He was trying to get us nice and low in the turn and in and out. The first couple of steps are key and if we can get them right, we'll be fast. Obviously, he's the fastest man ever so if we can have the title with him, that'd be cool."

Bolt also revealed that he had been busy after retirement preparing for a tilt at football, having been invited to train with Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund. "It's something that I want to do. I'm trying to get fit now," he said.

"My doctor finally passed me after my hamstring problems at the world championships, so now I can start training. I've started training while I'm here and trying to get into shape before I get home and next year I'll get a trial and we'll take it from there," he added.