Time for England to stand up and be counted

ENGLAND are allowed to feel sorry for themselves today. But by tomorrow they must get off their knees, start turning nasty and then make a new commitment to give Australia an Ashes fight to remember this summer.

Just about everything that could go wrong for the underdogs in Birmingham did go wrong - and if captain Nasser Hussain misses next week's second match of the series at Lord's as a result of the finger broken for him by Jason Gillespie then their visit to the Midlands will not be far short of an unmitigated cricketing disaster.

But, while understandably sounding a long way down in the dumps following England's innings and 118 run First Test thrashing, Hussain last night appealed for a national show of support for his team.

"We didn't compete with Australia at any stage during this game," admitted an emotional Hussain. "We just didn't play as we have in Tests for the past 18 months.

"Now people can completely tear this side apart, and tear English cricket to pieces, but that will just keep us going round in circles. I, as captain, can shout at the players and tell them they're crap.

"But that won't achieve anything.

We've got to work with what we've got and keep going forward."

England's already slim chances of success were dealt two hammer blows early last week when Graham Thorpe (calf) and Michael Vaughan (knee) withdrew from the squad.

Then first reserve Mark Ramprakash (hamstring) had to pull out. Of those three casualties, only Ramprakash is likely to be fit for Lord's - and he may now have to replace Hussain.

But no matter how big the handicap and regardless of the opposition's awesome strength, England ought to be able to put up a better fight than they managed in Birmingham. Otherwise, the gains of the last year - made against Zimbabwe, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - will count for little.

There is always plenty to learn from Australia. Right now, though, two examples of their steely attitude seem well worth copying.

Way back in 1989, when England held the Ashes, Allan Border decided part of the problem was that he and his team were just too chummy with the opposition. He ordered an end to on the field small talk and didn't soften his approach until the series had been won 4- 0.

Perhaps Hussain's England need to risk temporarily spoiling a few friendships.

Asked to pick out one turning at Edgbaston, triumphant captain Steve Waugh plumped for the first over of Australia's innings when Michael Slater clattered Darren Gough for 18 runs.

So how did England react to having the initiative wrenched from their grasp?

Mike Atherton, in his regular Sunday newspaper column, told us. "I see you've been on the Prozac again, Slats" was the home opener's less than biting remark to his opposite number as he shuffled part him from slip.

One imagines that if the Australians said anything to Marcus Trescothick yesterday when he was trying to counterattack against Glenn McGrath it would have made him think, not smile.

Getting even, of course, is considerably better than getting nasty.

If England needed any additional incentive to hit back strongly at Lord's then Australia handed it to them yesterday. Steve Waugh insisted he and his players were merely saying "thank you" to the supporters when they waltzed all the way around the ground, waving and smiling, before the end of match presentation ceremony.

But it must have looked like a lap of honour to Hussain's men - and a somewhat premature one with four Tests still to play.

Four years ago, the then Australian captain Mark Taylor made his team listen to every word of every triumphant chant coming from England's supporters at Edgbaston following a home victory in the first match of that series.

He wanted his players to remember the sense of hurt for a very long time.

Hopefully, Hussain ordered his side to watch every step of Australia's boundary march yesterday.

A bit of psychology will not be enough by itself to close the gap, of course. England must bat, bowl and field considerably better at Lord's if they want to compete with the world champions.

But, as Hussain and coach Duncan Fletcher stressed, there is no point making wholesale changes or losing faith in the idea of resting key players between Tests.

England devised an overall strategy 18 months ago and, by and large, it has served them well so far.

Now is not the time to rip up the script. Rather, it is the time to reread it, add a few extra lines and then produce a proper performance at Lord's.

First Test (Edgbaston) - Aus won by innings and 118 runs.

Second Test (Lord's), 19-23 July; Third Test (Trent Bridge), 2-6 Aug; Fourth Test (Headingley), 16-20 Aug; Fifth Test (The Oval), 23- 27 Aug.

Copyright 2001
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