Brisbane: Michael Clarke is giving nothing away on the eve of the Ashes. Not his starting XI, not comparisons between this and the previous series, not praise nor predictions, not even observations on England.
Outwardly, the captaincy style harks back to another era, back in the mid-1980s when Australia was struggling in the international arena. And with good reason -- England is in Australia with a settled squad and favored to win a fourth consecutive Ashes series for the first time since the 1880s.
Clarke and the Australians will have to be at their grittiest best to stop them. Australia's squad is more settled than it was during the tumultuous buildup to the last Ashes series in England, which only finished in August with the home team as 3-0 victors.
England has won eight of the last 15 Ashes tests, and won four of the five Ashes series since ending Australia's dominating run with a home triumph in 2005. In the weeks leading up to the last Ashes series, Cricket Australia fired South African Mickey Arthur as coach -- bringing in former test batsman Darren Lehmann as a late replacement -- and suspended opener David Warner after a night club incident.
The squad never seemed to recover, but is outwardly showing signs of growing confidence ahead of a home series. "We've played a lot more cricket now as a group. The five tests in England helped us as a group," Clarke told a news conference today at the Gabba, less than 24 hours before the five-test series was due to start.
"It would be silly to compare where we were then compared with where we are now. Different series, different conditions."
Rival players have been trading barbs in the media and on social networks in recent days, with Kevin Pietersen and Stuart Broad having plenty to say for England, and Warner and co. firing salvos from Australia. It's all hype, Clarke said, and means nothing come Thursday morning. He didn't respond to questions about Broad, Pietersen's 100th test cap or the chances of wicketkeeper Matt Prior recovering from injury to play in the first test for England.
The Australian lineup is more stable than it was five months ago, with Shane Watson recovering from a hamstring strain to take his place at the top of the order and also offering to bowl some overs if he's needed to cover the pace group of Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle and the returning Mitch Johnson.
Clarke said he knows his batting lineup from No. 1-7, but won't reveal it until after the starting XI is announced before the toss. The only uncertainty seems to be whether Australia will play spinner Nathan Lyon or go for another pace option with allrounder James Faulkner.
Warner returned midway through the last Ashes series but didn't cement his spot in the order, and was one of six batsmen tried at No. 6 as selectors searched for a replacement for the retired Mike Hussey. He was dropped from a subsequent limited-overs tour to India but has regained form with multiple centuries in domestic cricket and will open the innings.
George Baily earned a shot to bat at No. 6 on the basis of his form while leading Australia in India when Clarke was sidelined with a back problem. That should be the only change at the top of the order from the team Australia fielded in the fifth test at The Oval.
Clarke batted and bowled in the nets on Wednesday, and said he's ready to contribute with bat and ball if required in Brisbane. Australia hasn't lost a test at the Gabba in 25 years, and the Brisbane venue has become something of a fortress as the start of each test series.
"The belief is there," Clarke said. "Hopefully we'll show that over the next five test matches."
England not intimidated by Gabba fortress: Cook
England not intimidated by Gabba fortress: Cook
Brisbane: Skipper Alastair Cook said today England were not intimidated by Australia's invincibility at the Gabba and were looking for a big first innings total to set up a breakthrough victory.
Michael Clarke's Australians are looking to an unbeaten 25-year run at the Brisbane ground to give them the momentum to retrieve the Ashes urn and deny England a fourth straight series, something that has not been done since 1890.
England last won at the Gabba in 1986 and a victory first-up at Australia's Brisbane fortress following their 3-0 series win at home three months ago will undoubtedly be a psychological blow to Australia's series chances.
"There's no reason to feel intimidated. A lot of players in the squad we have this year were here in 2010-11 so we've all got experience of winning in Australia and we're trying to use that to the best of our ability," Cook said. "We know how important this game was last time for setting up the series.
"Australia have a very good record in Brisbane, it's our job to try and change that."
Cook said his England team had been confronted with challenges in the past and delivered on them. "We spoke about something like this at Lord's in 2009 when we hadn't beaten Australia for something like 70-odd years... and we made a real conscious effort to change that," he said.
"This side has done that on a number of times. Whether we do that in this game will depend on how well we play, and especially at a ground where they have a lot of confidence playing on it will do us the world of good."
An important part of that strategy will be for England to post a sizeable 400-plus first innings score to put the Australians under pressure in the first of five Tests. England did not reach 400 in any of their 10 innings in the last Ashes series and Cook said he felt partly responsible for that inadequacy. "We know how important first innings runs are in Australia," he said.
"If you want to set the game up you have to score big and the wickets tend to be slightly easier to score runs on here than they are in England.
It's all gone well in the warmup games, slightly different preparation and a bit more rain around but all the guys have spent some time in the middle and that's all you can ask for."
Despite their series superiority, England were three wickets down for less than 65 on five occasions in the July-August series. "It's an area where we know we have to do better in this series. We were 30 for 3 a number of times in the last series and I was partly responsible for that," Cook said.
"I am happy with the way I've played in these warmup games, I feel in a good place right now."
Cook said the war of words between the traditional rivals will be replaced by action on the field on Thursday's long-awaited start to the series. "We certainly don't fear anyone. We are a very competitive side," he said.
"There's been a lot of words spoken, that's what the buildup to the Ashes is. We all know when we come to 10 o'clock tomorrow morning it's who plays the best."
Australia (from): David Warner, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (captain), Steve Smith, George Bailey, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Nathan Lyon, James Faulkner.
