Hope abounds through fearless Flintoff

I feel distinctly uneasy, writes Simon Barnes in The Times. The Aussies are getting cocky: they are still beating everyone, the last Ashes series was just a blip, the Poms got lucky but when they come to Oz we all know they’ll curl up and die.

In other words, the Australians are strong and ever-so-slightly smug, the English are stronger than they have been but ever-so-slightly anxious. Exactly as it was 16 months ago, when Australia came to England.