Michael Clarke is not retiring

"I'm not retiring," Michael Clarke insists. No-one actually asked whether he was.

There are a few other things Clarke is not doing.

Clarke is not turning up early to training because he is out of form. He always turns up to training early and often leaves late, to get his personal preparation out of the way before and after that of his teammates.

"I haven't trained any harder over the last two or three days than I would have done since I took over the captaincy," he said. "Since I took over the captaincy I have always come to training earlier than everyone else to make sure I get my preparation done before the team arrives.

"The way I've always looked at it is keep working hard. When you're making runs do the same thing. My training has been consistent over the last eight years, whether I'm making runs or not. So I've got to keep the faith there and make sure I'm still doing all the work, ticking every box.

"Whether it's physical, diet, hitting enough balls, working on certain parts of my technique, rehab, massage, physio with Alex, ice bath, putting the team first, making sure the other players are ready to go. It's not about getting into the nets. I've always been one of the hardest workers, always done extra stuff. Nothing changes, it's all about self-belief, and watching the ball."

Clarke is not chasing after the ball too eagerly in pursuit of runs. He has always been a twitchy/aggressive starter, sometimes undone by the method, more often able to accelerate into his innings like a sports car revving from zero to 60mph in a few seconds, before settling into cruising speed.

"I have always thought through my career the better the bowling the more aggressive you have got to be, especially if the wicket's got a bit in it because if you sit there and block you will get one with your name on it," he said. "Unfortunately at this stage I haven't been able to get in to attack or defend.

"In Cardiff when I made the 30-odd I played pretty positive, [also in] the second innings at Lord's when I declared the innings. I have played that way for a long time now I don't think that will change. It is just about getting in and having the freedom to play my natural game. Because I haven't spent much time in the middle it takes a bit longer to pick the ball up, to see the ball cleanly for all your movements, all that kind of thing.

"The only way you get that is time in the middle. You can bat all you want in the nets, but the middle is where you need to find your rhythm. but my mindset doesn't change, I've played a certain way my whole career, and it's worked so far, so I'll continue to back that."

Clarke is not regretful in the slightest about batting first at Edgbaston. The pitch in Nottingham appears to be of similar character, and Clarke is adamant he will again be sending his batsmen in to build a score should he find more success at the toss.

"Not at all, if the wicket is exactly the same at Edgbaston and I win the toss I will bat again, I don't regret batting at Edgbaston, we just didn't bat well enough," he said. "I knew it was going to be tough up to the end of that first session but then it stayed overcast first few days with a bit of rain around. I still think if we made 250 in that first innings it is a completely different game."

Clarke is not looking upon this game any more seriously than any other, even if the team has taken to calling it a grand final. The trouble with the grand final analogy is that there is another Test match after this one.

"I think we can take confidence that we bounced back after Cardiff, definitely," he said. "We've got to have the same attitude, we know because it was two weeks ago we had to win the next Test match and now we sit in the same position. We've seen it in one-day cricket, we've seen it in the World Cup final as well. It's now a build-up for the grand final for us. There should be no reason why guys aren't absolutely buzzing.

"I don't think you can build it up too much, I think you've got to play your best. You want the excitement that comes with a grand final, but you also want the calmness and freedom to go out there and play like you play in any other Test match. The occasion will be a fantastic build-up for our attitude where we've got so much to play for, but you've got to do the business, you've got to bat well, got to bowl well."

Clarke is not a selector. He wants to have more control of the scoreboard in the bowling attack he uses at Trent Bridge, largely so he can employ Mitchell Johnson as a hyper-aggressive spearhead, but has no say in its composition. He is also thinking of batting at No.5 rather than No.4, but cannot make that call until he knows what XI he has been given. Most signs at training these past two days have pointed to an unchanged team.

"That's how we did bowl, it is not what we spoke about before walking out on the field," Clarke said of wicket-chasing on the first evening. "It was about building pressure and being patient and on that wicket we were going to get enough opportunities, but we didn't bowl that way, we tried to attack and take wickets. 130 runs on the board doesn't help.

"You saw at Lord's the other guys bowled really well so I could utilise Mitchell to bowl like that. In Cardiff and Edgbaston we didn't bowl as well as we needed to so Mitch needed to bowl longer spells so his role is a little bit different. I think it depends on how we bowl as attack, rather than how Mitch is going."

Clarke is not a five-time Ashes loser. Not yet.