Captain Atherton's enterprise on the line

Now, England are pressed for time in this topsy-turvy Ashes battle; an appropriate mind picture of their plight is one of Houdini, chained and bound to a rail track, knowing that the 6.15 from York is due in four minutes.

Some might see that as a rush to judgement but the truth is that England may as well be one down as 1-1, for to draw the series, while it may offer their captain Mike Atherton the opportunity to be upbeat with "matching the world champions shows we've turned the corner", is to lose The Ashes.

In our occasional moments of self-congratulation, we Australians nominate Sir Donald Bradman, Richie Benaud, Ian Chappell and Mark Taylor as our great post-war captains. When The Don tossed the coin his teams went on to win 62 per cent of their Tests; Chappell won 50 per cent, Benaud 42 and Taylor has won 55. Of course, statistics never tell the whole story, and it was how their teams won, by playing aggressive, enterprising, watchable cricket, that most enhanced their reputations.

If offered the same challenge, England fans would probably nominate Sir Len Hutton (with percentage 47), Peter May (48), Ray Illingworth (37) and Mike Brearley (58) as their great leaders. Mike Atherton (25) is involved in something of a death-struggle trying to join them. To be fair, however, the Elite Eight did have an advantage over Atherton - they generally had great bowlers at their command, such as Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller, Bill Johnston, Fred Trueman and Brian Statham, Frank Tyson, Jim Laker and Tony Lock, John Snow and Derek Underwood, Ian Botham and Bob Willis, Alan Davidson, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.

Taylor, the man intent on burying Atherton, can throw the ball to Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath; Atherton's got...well, not any bowler who's quite made it. One day, Darren Gough might rate a mention alongside the great bowlers, but at the moment he hasn't shown the match-upon-match consistency that can turn a Test series. And it does take a special and mature talent to do that; developing bowlers, or the promising ones - Australia's Jason Gillespie is a classic example - can find it difficult to maintain the three Fs - form, fitness and focus - over a six-Test series. And that inevitably leads to a fourth: frustration.

Test cricket is the race for true stayers and to pursue the racing analogy, England sprinted well early; the Texaco victories were based on aggression and enthusiasm, and Atherton's men carried that mindset into the First Test.

But, by Old Trafford, England looked tired; or, should that be negative? Were they playing for a draw, trying to hang on to that slender series lead? If they were, then Atherton should have been "shot" during the post-Manchester army games.

Pardon me if I seem to be The Wet Blanket in Innovation; however, experience shows that England's decision to indulge in war games as some sort of psychological boost for the Headingley Test has the potential for shellshock, self-inflicted.

Last summer in Australia, the Victorian Sheffield Shield team prepared for the season with some militarily precise rope step-climbing, log high-jumping, drain and mud through- crawling then went out to engage the enemy - in a fight for the wooden spoon.

Such a departure from orthodox cricket preparation raises a couple of points: has the game really changed that much from the days when Hutton fashioned hundreds and Trueman toppled stumps? And, how on earth is it going to help the victims of Old Trafford set their sights on Shane Warne?

While all this was happening the Aussies were doing what comes naturally to cricketers between Tests - having a few rounds of golf, having fun in a match against Scotland, and having a picnic against J Paul Getty's team. Letting Warne fly home to kiss his new-born daughter's head and take his wife to dinner was unusual, but sensible.

It was all like that stretch first thing in the morning, just a nice gentle release from the intensity that had carried them to victory at Old Trafford. The team focus will have been gently revived in the match with Glamorgan, and sharper at Lord's, where the attraction of the venue and the proximity of the Fourth Test, if not the class of Middlesex, will have been the motivator. Captain Mark Taylor is now talking about winning the series 3-1.

I'm no sports psychologist, but it sounds like a recipe for perfect peaking to me. Of course, cricket's erratic ways can soon make that look like a damn fool statement and its utterer a dunce, but I wonder if Mike Atherton might have been wiser to have taken his boys to the movies, to that Ashes blockbuster Edgbaston, the First Test, and rekindled winning memories.

Such as, how to bowl straight, on the right length, how to create pressure, how to take on Warne using the bat as a weapon, not the pad, and...how are we going to get Steve Waugh out? It snowed on Ayres Rock the other day, so anything's possible.

Headingley is the moment for Atherton to seize, to make things happen, rather than expect that Gough will clean up just because he's at home. This is the acid test of Atherton's captaincy: can he turn the Aussies back?