Hussain consigns history to the past

Ashes tour: Fresh faces mean a clean sheet as England hope the scars of the last seven encounters have healed

In his first public words as England captain on Australian soil, Nasser Hussain flatly denied yesterday that he was engaged on Mission Impossible. But nobody would have been astonished if the tapes recording this statement had self-destructed within 10 seconds.

"Not at all," said Hussain, when the question was posed after England's first practice of the tour. "Everyone said it was Mission Impossible when we went to Sri Lanka, it was the same in Pakistan and it was Mission Impossible when we beat West Indies for the first time in 33 years. We showed them all we could do it and we're here to show Australia and every Australian watching us that we can beat them as well. We wouldn't have got off the plane if we didn't think we could win."

For his sake, it is to to be hoped when he and his team finally get back on the plane in January those words are not haunting him. All the portents suggest that England will lose an Ashes series for the eighth consecutive time, a sequence which is already a record. Australia are so dominant that it is perfectly proper to predict that they will keep their metaphorical mitts on the old urn until they have reached the next landmark.

That is for the length of time one country has had held the Ashes: 18 years and 362 days, which covered the period, interrupted by war, between 1934 and 1953. To beat it, Australia need to win not only this winter but two more series.

Since England's unexpected 4-0 humiliation in 1989 they have rarely troubled the scorers. Not once has a rubber gone to the final Test. Last time in Australia four years ago it was all over before Christmas for the first time, last year in England the game was up after the first three matches. And so it goes on.

In these circumstances, England could consider it a triumph if they reach Boxing Day in Melbourne for the Fourth Test with the series still alive. After that, the team and their followers might seriously believe that anything could happen.

England's priority will be to get fit. Too many of the 16-man squad for comfort embarked on the tour with sick notes. The chief worry, despite a tour de force performance proclaiming his health, is Darren Gough. He has had three knee operations and has not played a Test match since August 2001, when he took 1 for 113.

At least he took part in practice in Perth yesterday. Only Andrew Flintoff, who is recovering from a double hernia operation, did not wholly extend himself. But Gough has yet to bowl at full bore and 7 November is 18 days away. Similar concerns apply to Simon Jones, who missed the last eight weeks of the English season. The other recent surgical cases, Michael Vaughan and Mark Butcher (both knees), are less cause for concern.

"I hope we can compete with them in all areas because we're going to have to beat them in all areas to win the series," said Hussain. "There's no point batting well and dropping all our catches."

It is pertinent that he mentioned catches. So often, that has been the key difference – Australia catch flies and England can hardly catch their breath. The tourists need to sort out their slip cordon quickly: only Andrew Flintoff looks assured there. Hussain, who likes being at mid-off to talk to his bowler, may have to consider shouting at him from first slip. The captain may be 34 but he retains a safe and quick pair of hands. If the catches begin to stick, they have a habit of continuing to stay where they should.

It will certainly help towards the other major task: the taking of 20 wickets. To regain the Ashes, England may well have to do this three times, since Australia are not these days in the business of allowing draws. England must perforce be unafraid to settle for attrition ("sitting in" to use the fashionable phrase), wearing Australia down with both bat and ball, waiting for them to make mistakes. But it would be foolish in the extreme to try to match them blow for blow.

The use of extreme pace is certain to figure. Both Jones and Stephen Harmison can expect an invitation to put Australian noses in proximity to the seam and it will not be wholly surprising if James Anderson, the Lancashire fast bowler, is whistled up from the Academy.

The pace must not be wasteful and it must be allied to accuracy at the other end. Gough can help out here, but never has a series mattered more than this does to Andrew Caddick. It could complete him or it could finish him, and they are not one and the same.

If Gough is not fit, Caddick must be resilient when the Australian big guns start firing at him; he must stick to his plan, and perhaps most of all he must not allow himself to be distracted by becoming involved in verbal exchanges. Leave that to the younger men with the slicker tongues, let the ball do the talking. If Caddick holds up and somebody can prove slippery then, if you say it quickly enough, 20 wickets seems fairly straightforward instead of the Theory of Relativity.

England are pretty confident that their batting will be in good order. They have been led to think this by their totals in the summer, which were indeed of wonderful proportions. No wish to cavil, but there are reservations. Four of their batsmen, which means the entire middle order, have been in losing sides against Australia before and have fairly moderate records against them. So why should it be any different now? What Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne have already done they can surely repeat. Or maybe England have learned.

Australia's only concerns appear to amount also to their middle order. Mark Waugh failed again yesterday against Pakistan. His brother, Steve, the captain, needs to go on today to be certain that he will not be replaced. Australia will not want to change things now, but what if the Waughs are at the end of the rainbow?

The importance of England's opening pair, Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan, is impossible to overestimate. If they do not come off, it will be a rotten Christmas. They look good, they feel good. In 1970-71, do not forget, Ray Illingworth's side won the Ashes after assembling four century opening stands, two in the nineties and only once losing their first wicket to the new ball in the first innings. On the other hand, Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe shared four opening partnerships of above 100 in 1924-25 and England still lost 4-1.

Part of England's trouble is they can hardly win a toss, never mind a match. Australia, as if they needed it, have won 14 of the last 16 tosses against England. It would be handy if Hussain could call correctly at Brisbane – but do not count on this, as no England captain has done so at the Gabba for 10 Tests, since 1958-59, and England still lost then.

Hussain's England will lack nothing in what he called "getting stuck in" and others might see as getting stuck up opposition noses. England will probably lose and they may even do so 5-0, but because it is Hussain and because England are undoubtedly stronger, it is just conceivable that people are confusing Mission Impossible with The Avengers.