James Faulkner won't ruffle any feathers unless they're in his flight path WEST Indian dynamo Chris Gayle might think otherwise, but Australia's Ashes rookie James Faulkner doesn't think of himself as the type of bowler who deliberately will set out to ruffle English feathers. Faulkner had been bubbling away on the backburner of most Australian cricket fans' consciousness with three consistent Sheffield Shield seasons for Tasmania without really grabbing their attention until he gave Gayle a right royal send-off after bowling him in the one-day international in Canberra in February. That cost him 10 per cent of his match fee in fines for yelling an obscenity but the upside was that it showed the national selectors he was a fighter who wouldn't shirk the contest in a tough Ashes campaign. And if they needed any further confirmation of that, it wasn't long in coming as Faulkner, coming to the wicket with Tasmania 5-15 in its second innings against Queensland in last month's Sheffield Shield final -- a lead of only 209 -- dug in with Tim Paine for a 163-run stand that ensured the Tigers couldn't be beaten. He went on to make 89, his highest first-class score, but as valuable and even history-making as the innings was, it was no aberration. Always a penetrative left-arm bowler with an ability to swing the ball both ways, Faulkner has strung together wicket hauls of 36, 36 and 39 in his past three Shield seasons. The big improvement has come in his batting and while he might have been surprised yesterday to learn he had scored 444 Shield runs at 34.15, his Tasmanian teammates quickly learned last season they could rely on him with the bat. I'd like to think I'm a pretty strong competitor on the field. And off the field I'm a pretty relaxed character," said Faulkner yesterday from India, where he is playing as a $400,000 recruit for the Rajasthan Royals. But definitely when the game is on the line or the game is in full flight, I like to think that I'm pretty aggressive the way I play my cricket and get on the front foot instead of being dictated. That said, he couldn't quite join in the spirit of the customary pre-Ashes banter when he was asked whether he was looking forward to ruffling some Pommy feathers. "I don't think you're going to go out and attack a team or an individual in that sort of manner but definitely I play my cricket hard and fair and that's what I'll continue to do," he said. There was a time when just about every uncapped member of an Australian Ashes touring party was making his first trip to England but in these days when talented young players are exposed to foreign conditions from an early age, it's pleasantly quaint to learn that he has never set foot before in England. From what I've heard there's a little bit of swing and seam around in England with a different ball to the Kookaburras, but I've got a batting coach and a bowling coach to talk me through all those different aspects in the coming months. There is an unflappable quality about Faulkner and while he admitted he did get excited when he received the hoped-for phone call from chairman of selectors John Inverarity as he was just getting off a plane in Mumbai on Tuesday, he very quickly settled down to the business of IPL cricket once he had shared the glad tidings with his family in Australia. But as cool as the 22-year-old is, he admits the upcoming series in England has his motor running. I think the closer it gets, I'll probably get more nervous, more fidgety and on edge but at the moment I'm just concentrating on what I'm doing overseas and towards the end of IPL I'll start to think about the job I've got ahead. As the only uncapped player in the side -- although he has relegated James Pattinson to the youngest member of the 16-man touring party by a princely sum of four days -- Faulkner's job might initially have looked to be that of the side's drink-waiter and general dogsbody. But Inverarity's words in announcing the Ashes squad suggest Faulkner could well find himself in the thick of the action as the team's all-rounder if Shane Watson makes a sluggish start. "He is a player who is seldom out of the game for long," said Inverarity. He takes wickets, forms partnerships and makes valuable runs. Which sounds like the all-rounder's job description. Faulkner would not be daunted if suddenly Michael Clarke taps him on the shoulder and asks him to handle the No 7 slot. Yeah, I'd definitely be comfortable to bat at No 7. Wherever I could slot into an Australian team, I think you'd be pretty happy to play wherever you can," said the son of former Tasmanian Shield cricketer Peter Faulkner.