England can win in Australia
Australia haven't been in the best form for some time while things are looking up for England ahead for the Ashes
Siddhartha Talya
25-Feb-2013
Australia haven't been in the best form for some time while things are looking up for England ahead for the Ashes. England will be confident but also fully aware that history is against them, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent.
Gatting might (rightly and voraciously) have spent many of the succeeding 24 years dining out on the feat but his remains the last England team in Australia to secure perhaps the greatest and most evocative of all international sporting trophies. There are sound reasons, Middlesex or not, for suggesting that Strauss may be instrumental in reducing the number of Gatt's banquet invitations, or at least the resonance of his introduction to the assembled throng.
England are capable of beating Australia this winter, a prediction that can be made with more evidence and certainty than at any time since 1982-83 (when they eventually lost) and that includes Gatting's expedition. The biggest mistake the squad and their followers could make is that it is a cast-iron certainty.
Mike Selvey agrees in the Guardian, saying England have never been better prepared and resourced for an Ashes tour as this time.
Siddhartha Talya is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo