Cricket: Battle for the Ashes: WE AUSSIES WIN GAMES BECAUSE WE NEVER

WE'VE had to scrap against England at Lord's, but that has been one of the great strengths of this Australian team over the years - and provided the weather holds, we will get the reward.

We knew it was going to be tough on Thursday when Ricky Ponting won the toss and chose to bat.

On the first morning there was life in the wicket, and what we were hoping to do was bat through the first couple of hours with minimum damage. It didn't work out that way because England, to their credit, bowled well.

But then, that was what you would expect from their current attack. It's gained its spurs winning Tests in the West Indies and South Africa, and you don't do that without ability.

But there was no point in dwelling on our problems - that gets you nowhere. We knew we had to battle and we did.

Simon Katich fought like hell, and while you could never be satisfied with 190, we fought to get it.

And we have fought since. You won't see a better spell of bowling than the one Glenn McGrath produced in the first innings. To take five wickets for seven in an opening spell was just awesome.

Then yesterday I thought we had a really good day of Test cricket. Good, hard, tough Test cricket.

At the end of our innings Glenn, Brett Lee and me all helped to put together partnerships that eventually took the target England would need past 400 - and once you get there you know history is on your side.

And while Glenn and Brett bowled tidily at the start of the England second innings, it was the turn of Shane Warne to step up and prove that, at 35, there is still a lot of life in the spin master.

Look how he set up Ian Bell, bowled him deliveries that turned away from the bat and then one that went straight on. Top class.

It hasn't gone unnoticed that so far I haven't taken a wicket in the match, and the critics in the papers and on TV have been quick to seize upon it - that's their job and I have no complaints about them doing it.

But after the early one-day games I did get three wickets in the final, and I don't feel I have bowled badly here. It's been going at around 80 miles an hour and I feel the wickets will come.

The great thing about our dressing room is that we don't dwell on individual performances. We might say "Well done" when someone gets 100 or takes a bunch of wickets, but it's all about contributions to the team.

The critics have also had a lot to say about some of the pre- match comments that came from both camps, and some people might have wondered whether England were wise to upset Glenn McGrath by suggesting he was over the hill.

I don't think he was upset, and nor was I.

Some players like to talk themselves or their side's chances up before a game; others just want to get on with it. But I have got two takes on that.

Firstly, it doesn't matter what you say, it's what you do out on the pitch that really counts at the end of the day. And we've done it.

And secondly, more so in England than in Australia, cricket needs to get all the publicity it can to keep the game popular.

Let's face it - any cricket story that can knock football off the back page has to be good for the game, and that's what pays our wages.

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