CRICKET: We'll go flat out to scupper your new skipper

THE heat will be on Mike Atherton when he leads out England at Lord's on Thursday. He has now become our No.1 target.

Atherton has every right to believe that, as a one-match replacement for the injured Nasser Hussain, he has nothing to lose as he tries to pull England back into the Ashes after our win at Edgbaston.

But in our eyes he has to be the wicket that all the bowlers will be trying that little bit harder to capture.

Australian sides have never tried to disguise their approach to opposition captains. If you can undermine the captain, you can undermine the whole team.

In Atherton's case there is another factor. As the England team's most experienced batsman, and an opener as well, if we can get him early it's going to make it all the harder for the younger players who follow.

Despite the position he is now going to find himself in, we believe Atherton was the logical choice to lead England after Hussain broke his thumb.

When you have a player already available in the side who has the experience of captaining the team on a record 52 occasions, why go for anyone else? His win/loss record as captain may not be the most impressive, but it has to be remembered he was leading a struggling side.

Although we will all be putting in that extra ounce when Atherton comes out, there will be no new tactics against him.

I said before the first Test that Glenn McGrath believes he has his measure outside the off stump, which was proved again at Birmingham, so there is no reason to change a successful formula.

The absence of Hussain may be a blow for England, but it's not something we wanted to see, either.

Before the first Test Steve Waugh was presented with a trophy by the International Cricket Council to mark Australia's position at the top of the new official world Test league.

There is no doubt we have earned it. But we don't want anyone saying we have no right to be at the top of the tree.

And the first element of doubt they might introduce is the quality of the opposition. So far this summer, through a bad run of injuries, England haven't been able to field their strongest side against us.

We would like to be playing, and beating, the best team England can put out, so in years to come there can be no doubts which was the better outfit.

For the moment, however, we can only take on the players England put out.

We know we can improve on the way we played at Edgbaston. There was nothing wrong with our batting, but some of our bowling left a lot to be desired.

It may sound strange it after our huge margin of victory, but at times it was not up to the standard we expect.

I got five wickets in the match, but I really only bowled two good spells - one before lunch on the first morning and the other when I got three wickets in England's second innings.

Otherwise we allowed England to score too many fours. I know that is always likely to be the case when you have four slips and two gullies. But at times like that it is important that the bowlers stick rigidly to tight lines.

We have talked it over since Birmingham, we've been working extra hard in the nets and now we are all determined to get it right at Lord's.

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