Cricket: Lord's prayer answered by Athers the ever-ready; EXCLUSIVE

THE Aussies have little respect for Test rivals these days. Why should they, when they have walked over most of them?

But one man they do respect is Mike Atherton.

To a certain extent they also fear him - or at least what he can do if he digs in.

So who better to step into Nasser Hussain's boots? Giving Athers the captaincy for Lord's doesn't just make sense as he's the most experienced guy around, it also sends a message to Steve Waugh and Co.

It says, despite losing a strong leader like Nasser, we will turn up at the home of cricket in good shape to put the record straight.

There was nothing wrong with the clamour to make Marcus Trescothick the man for this Test. No doubt he would have done a decent job.

But his time will come. He's England captaincy material and when Nasser decides he's had enough, or the selectors want a change, Marcus will be in pole position.

Yet there was no point piling more pressure on his broad young shoulders at a time when he's got enough on his plate. He's in good form but people seem to forget "Banger" crashed his way into the side only a year ago and is still building up his confidence.

Leading your country is hard, doing it against the Aussies is doubly difficult. It would have been unfair on Marcus, especially when you have a guy as well prepared as Athers.

His reign as captain may not have been the most successful in English cricket history, but there were mitigating circumstances.

For most of that time England had an average side which often relied on Athers to do the donkey-work. He captained a team which got used to losing and confidence was low.

And he didn't know which guys he'd be leading out from one Test to another.

This situation is different. We may have lost meekly at Edgbaston, but this side is still the best England have had for a long time.

Mike is older, wiser and more experienced. And he will relish the chance to put one over the Aussies. He endured enough misery at their hands as full-time captain, so just think how pumped up he'll be to try to gain a bit of revenge.

We'll step out at Lord's ready to sweat blood for him - just as we would for Nasser.

We were all pretty depressed by our display in the first Test and we owe it to the fans, the management and ourselves to put right what went wrong.

We batted and bowled badly, and our fielding was not up to scratch. You can't do so many things badly and expect to live with the best team in the world.

I wasn't happy with my contribution. I'm still a bit rusty with the ball and was a little sore afterwards. Hopefully, I'll be getting nearer top gear by Thursday.

I can understand the doom and gloom English fans have felt since Edgbaston. But I can assure you the belief in our dressing-room is as strong as it was in Karachi and Colombo.

Believe me, Lord's will see the best of this England side.

Battle for the Ashes

FIRST TEST

Edgbaston: Australia won by innings and 118 runs

SECOND TEST

July 19-23: Lord's

THIRD TEST

August 2-6: Trent Bridge

FOURTH TEST

August 16-20: Headingley

FIFTH TEST

August 23-27: The Oval

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