England must stand up and be counted

"I like the character in our side at the moment - they are not guys who are easily over-awed," said Strauss, who might easily have been captain, instead of Flintoff, in 2006 but has a far better chance now of winning an Ashes series and thereby achieving every England cricketer's dream.

"The last thing you want to see is people very nervous and maybe over-awed by the occasion. So far I've seen no signs of that but now we have to go out there onto the field and do it.

"There's going to be a lot of excitement around and it's important we use that in a positive manner to get a bit extra out of ourselves, rather than let it get to us.

"We need to play positive cricket against Australia and give as good as we get. It's going to be tough cricket - it always is against Australia - and we need to be up for it, prepared to slug it out at times and ready to wrestle the initiative away from them."

England did all those things in 2005, starting with a fiery Twenty20 match at Hampshire's Rose Bowl ground and continuing through a one-day series which was close to boiling over at Edgbaston when Simon Jones - instantly supported by Paul Collingwood - clashed with Matthew Hayden.

This time, the Tests come first and most of Australia's confrontational characters - Hayden, Warne and McGrath - have retired. But it will not be Ashes cricket without the occasional flashpoint, although Strauss insists there is no need for any lines to be crossed.

"It's more a body language thing," he stressed when talking about the need for England to leave no one, least of all the opposition, in any doubt that they mean business.

"It's about being prepared to stand up and be counted. All our players know you need to do that and we all have our individual ways of doing it.

"Some guys might be verbal, some ignore everything, but the most important thing is how you play their bowlers and how you bowl at their batsmen."

While England planned to announce their line-up shortly before the start of play, Strauss gave the impression he had pretty much decided on the make-up of the side he would lead into Ashes battle.

Australia captain Ponting, on the other hand, wanted to keep his options open until he had taken one last look at the pitch and considered weather conditions.

There is nothing wrong with Ponting's approach to team selection, but it is another indication of how times have changed for the Aussies.

When Warne and McGrath were playing, Ponting always named his line-up 24 hours before start of play - and sometimes even earlier than that.

It was his way of saying to the opposition "you do what you want but my team can beat yours on any pitch and whether the ball swings, seams or spins." And nine times out of 10 he was right.

These days, though, Ponting is forced to weigh up his options like any other captain and Australia are no longer accompanied by that air of invincibility. Steve Harmison said it at Worcester last week: "They're just not as confident and brash as they used to be."

That does not mean to say the Aussies cannot win, of course, and bearing in mind their last series result was an away victory against South Africa - who beat England over here last summer - Ponting's men ought to start as favourites. But it should be tight, it should be tense and there must be a good chance that, just like four years ago, this battle goes all the way to the Brit Oval.