“Our draw in Brisbane was an excellent result considering the position we were in. We turned the game completely on its head and in some style too.
It was some of the best batting I have seen from an England side. We were in control for two days. To score 517 runs and lose just one wicket was ridiculous. It was an unbelievable effort from the guys.
Cooky and Trotty said they did not look too far ahead. They broke the innings down into little parts. It was important to do that. They were in the zone.
I was sat there pretty much for 10 hours wondering when I was going to bat. We had to face a few overs at the end of the third day – from then on I was trying to get myself mentally prepared.
Once Cook and Trott settled into that rhythm, they looked unbreakable. It was great to watch. I ended up with thigh pad rash. KP had pad rash.
We were always hugely confident of saving that Test. We were in a pretty bad position, made worse with it being against Australia in Australia.
We actually took a lot of heart from our bowling and fielding performance. At the start of the third day when we bowled at Hussey and Haddin, we could have taken four or five wickets.
We showed a lot of skill with the ball. It didn’t go our way but we stuck at it. It was a very toiling day but it showed me how close we are as a team. We will take confidence from how we went about saving that Test. We were really resilient but know it’s still nil-nil.
We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. It’s a new pitch in Adelaide and different conditions which we will have to adapt to.
Being back in Adelaide brings back good memories in terms of the 206 I scored four years ago, but not great memories in terms of the result. It was a great personal moment, especially against that sort of attack – Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Stuart Clark. It was a proud moment but I would not say it was my most important innings. I prefer the innings when we I have helped win or draw matches.
Everyone keeps referring back to that double hundred, so no pressure. I will take confidence from it though. I do like batting at Adelaide. I like the stadium and the wicket is good.
The Adelaide pitch seems to have been written off as being flat but when we played there three weeks ago there as a bit of grass on it and the ball went through. It swung as well.
I need to get off to a start with the bat. I’m feeling really good at the moment. I was delighted to score runs in the warm-up matches at Hobart and Adelaide. I feel in good touch.
Perhaps I got a little ahead of myself at the Gabba. It was disappointing getting out as I did. With all the emotion involved in a first Ashes Test, I might have been a little overconfident and went for a shot I didn’t need to. I might need to rein myself in a bit.
We were supposed to train at the ground today but we had some rain and had to go indoors. It wasn’t too bad.
The first Test only finished on Monday so the guys are still recovering from that. I doubt it would have been too heavy a session.”
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