Cricket: Swagger of Oz a gift of the Gabba

Events at the Gabba might have left a sour taste in the mouth but it would be foolish to deny that England were anything but happy when the rain came down. We were struggling, the tail might have batted it out as happened at Old Trafford against South Africa, but the weather ensured we did not leave Brisbane 1-0 down.

This was important. On the past two tours England have lost there and had to come from behind. Not impossible but not ideal either. And if Australia think they had the psychological edge by the end, they will have been irritated at not winning. It is a tall order but England, as they demonstrated last summer, are capable of hanging on in there until the end of a series.

The First Test brought home to us, as if we needed to be reminded, what a good side they are. We are not going to outplay them over the entire course of the five days. We have to take it day by day, session by session and play every one to our potential.

That did not happen at the Gabba. After all our talks of the significance of mental strength Australia had much the better of it over the last half of the match. I thought we did well to approach nearly 400 runs in our first innings because they had put us under severe pressure with their own first innings total of 485.

One feature of this not to be underrated was that we made the runs without contributions from either Alec Stewart or Mike Atherton. They are our most senior players and this showed that we can do without them if necessary.

It was quite a different tale in the second innings. Australia had gone for it, made quick runs and set us a target. We had intended to be aggressive about going for this and Atherton was really pumped about it. It did not work out for us, of course. We were found wanting against the turning ball on the final day but it did spin viciously. Nasser Hussain got a good googly; I was stumped.

I should put up my hands here. It was the wrong way to play in the circumstances but there were reasons for doing so. I like to use my feet against spinners and against Stuart MacGill in that innings there was a danger of being confined to the crease, dabbing everything down and not being in control of the shot.

I felt there was cause to mix things up a bit, not let him dominate proceedings, try to make him drop short. That is part of the cut and thrust between bat and ball. In the event, of course, the ball drifted into me and then turned away sharply. I did not reach the pitch to play the blocking stroke that I intended and what resulted was a classic leg spinner's dismissal. Yes, it was the wrong thing to do at the time but it was done from the best of intentions.

Australia surprised us all by leaving out MacGill for the Second Test. I can only imagine they picked the team before he did so well on the last day. He bowls a lot of bad balls but he had gained some confidence and even at Perth there would be a case for playing the leg spinner.

Nothing that happened in Brisbane, of course, has stopped the Australians from swaggering. Our batting first time round earned the respect of their spectators but there is still something in their approach which indicates that they assume England are there only to make up the numbers.

They are cocks of the walk and like to show it. En route to Perth from Brisbane the team met an Australian in one of the lounges and he was friendly but full of his team.

"What do you call an English batsman who makes five runs?" he asked. "Don't know," said the lads. "In form," he said.

That's the way they are and it was barely much different at the extremely posh black-tie dinner held a couple of nights ago in Perth to herald the Second Test. All the players from both sides attended and the event, with about 800 guests present, began with a 20-minute cricket video extolling Australia.

It showed clips from their recent triumph in the series in Pakistan and highlights of previous Ashes victories including Shane Warne's infamous ball to Mike Gatting and Graham Gooch handling the ball. This was the Aussies rubbing it in.

At the end of the film they invited Stewart up to say a few words. He could not resist the temptation of mentioning that England had managed to beat South Africa. "We've got the highlights coming up later," he said.

England picked from 14 for the Perth match and Gus Fraser was not in the squad. I felt very sorry for him because he has had a fantastic nine months for England. But he has not fired on all cylinders here; he has not found the pitches conducive to his pace. He will be back later in the series.

By the time this is read the match will have started, but I was pleased about the inclusion of Alex Tudor. He has good pace, a good attitude and has impressed in the nets. He also has height which can be telling at Perth.

A long, long battle lies ahead, regrouping may be necessary, but we have to dig in. We know now the battle is on.