CRICKET: ATH'S THE ANSWER TO LORD'S PRAYER; COUNTDOWN TO THE SECOND

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 into his trench as an opening batsman.

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 out a message to Steve Waugh and Co.

It tells them that, despite losing a strong leader like Nasser, we will turn up at the home of cricket well prepared and in good shape to put the record straight.

There was nothing wrong with the clamour to make Marcus Trescothick the man for the second 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 with the bat - as he proved in the second innings at Edgbaston and with Somerset last week - and he's still learning the Test trade.

People seem to forget "Banger" crashed his way into the side only a year ago and is still building up his confidence.

There's so much more to come from Tres. He's a quick learner, but you could easily undermine his progress by lumping the captaincy on him.

Leading your country into any battle is hard, but 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.

Apart from that, 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. Mark Butcher was one of the few England players to come out of the game with his head held high. He did well with the bat, and to rub salt into the main bowlers' wounds he took some wickets as well.

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.

We missed Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan, and the business with Mark Ramprakash didn't help.

But I'm not going to give the Aussies the chance to accuse us of being whingeing Poms. We were given a sound beating by a team that showed why they are the No.1 Test team.

They get on top of you and don't let up. Once Shane Warne got into his rhythm and Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath started firing, we were always under the cosh. If it hadn't been for Alec Stewart and Andy Caddick it would have been an even bigger disaster.

To have a chance of winning the second Test, we must get the best possible start. If we bat first the openers need to stick around and build the kind of platform needed to control a game. If we bowl first - as many sides now do at Lord's if they win the toss - we must give their top order hell.

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.

We got used to winning last summer and over the winter - and we can do it again. We've lost one battle but there are still four to go.

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

Interview:

GARY FITZGERALD

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