Mental dominance

In my piece I wrote before the first Ashes test in Brisbane three weeks ago I tried to get across the point that I thought the key thing to come out of that test would be the Poms mental state. If the Aussies dominated them there all the scars of tours past would have, I think, done as much to beat this side as any number of runs and wickets.

Three days in and it was looking like it may be a long summer,  and as any number of friends have pointed out in the last week I actually wrote a piece saying the Poms were choking already, but the last two days of Brisbane firmly put any thought of mental scarring to bed. Not just that they saved the test but the manner in which they saved it was something to behold.

It meant that going to Adelaide they had nothing to be afraid of. They knew they were in the fight. That translated into one of the most systematic dismantlings  of a team I have ever seen in my years of watching test cricket. I have been told and I have heard people say its only 1-0 don't get carried away. That misses the point around the way they won in Adelaide though, all the bowlers pitched in and every batsmen (Strauss excluded) got runs. It was a complete team performance that Australia had no answer to. Compare that to a victory where say one bowler rips through a team and you have one good partnership which sets up a victory. That is the reason why I am so confident that the English, barring some dramatic loss of form, should win this series and added to that they should legitimately believe they should. Kevin Pietersen was being interviewed by Warnie on the 3rd or 4th morning in Adelaide and he said something along the lines of in 06/07 they came with false belief this team has real belief/

The other funny thing about post Adelaide reaction has been the complete role-reversal in terms of crisis management. Normally it would be the Poms making ridiculous selections and whose media were destroying them this time it is the opposite. Glen McGrath said in 2005 that Australia would win at Lords and let the British press do the rest. Obviously that didn't quite work out but the sentiment stands and in this case has been reversed. In the days since Brisbane and Adelaide the Aussie press has murdered this side and it is quite beautiful to watch.

If you're reading this you probably know and thus know that I leave for Perth tomorrow to catch the last 3-tests of the series. I will try and blog as often as possible, though they may just be Barmy Army songs possibly.

So for now Ka Kite and CMON ENGLAND!