'The Ashes was just a blip on the radar really

Will you be recommending this sort of five-week busman's holiday to your team-mates?
Quite a few have done it in the past already, like Steve Waugh, who went to Kent in 2004. It's funny because I'd always maintained I'd never do it, it's quite a selfish pursuit to come all this distance for just five or six weeks. But then again I'd just spent three months at home and the last time I faced a ball I got knocked out by Makhaya Ntini. Physically I was quite ill after that happened, so it was good to get back on the horse and get my confidence back against top-class bowlers. On the fl ip side, hopefully Somerset have gained something from it and maybe we've forged a relationship for the next year or two as well. I hope they've benefited because I certainly have.

How do you recover after being hit as badly as you were by Makhaya Ntini?
It is a matter of focusing and paying attention to the next ball. Take pressure off yourself as you only have to concentrate for short periods. If I put my full focus on the ball then getting hit on the body, or even getting out, shouldn't be a problem.

Apart from scoring a load of runs, what did you make of your first experience of Twenty20 cricket?
It was great. I guess I'm a bit of a cricket purist - I love Test cricket in particular - and so I was very sceptical when I arrived, but that's simply because I'd never played the game. Now, however, I can understand why everyone's enjoying it so much. It's entertaining, it's much more tactical than you think and, as a batsman, you've still got to still practise your same basic technique. You've just got to adopt a different mind-set. It's also great for fielding and it's definitely going to have an impact on one-day cricket. I mean, look at that match in Johannesburg recently. That can only be good.

You've got 100 Tests to your name but only eight ODIs. Do you think you've proved a point with your success in Twenty20s?
Yeah, I wish I'd played it 10 years ago. It's nice to go out to bat with freedom. I've not had much one-day cricket for Australia, and one reason is that I've carried over the same mind-set from Test cricket. But in Twenty20s you've got the chance to get out there and really express yourself. It's not so good for the bowlers - one of ours described it as a thankless game - but it's a bit like being a goalkeeper in a penalty shoot-out. No one expects you to do any good but, if you do, it's quite rewarding. From that point of view everyone's got to have a crack. It's a fantastic game and everyone's so taken by it.

What have you made of England's performances since the Ashes?
To be honest, I've hardly seen any of it. Maybe I'm getting a bit philosophical here but I've been in the country for four weeks and I've seen maybe half an hour of cricket. You've got to be in specific places if you want to watch anything and it's just coincidence that Somerset happened to have it on in the changing room the other day. After the impact of the Ashes last year I'm amazed every kid in England isn't able to watch cricket. I love cricket as much as anyone and I've seen half an hour in four months. That might be telling you a story.

Do you think the feel-good factor has been lost?
I don't think so, certainly not completely. Everywhere I go I get reminded about last summer, although the boys at Somerset were very good about it when I arrived. Whatever's happening now, the upcoming summer will be huge. We've reconciled ourselves to that defeat, it was just a bit of a blip on the radar really. We won everything leading up to it, we lost two close matches and now we've won everything since. That's how I look at it.

There'll be no Michael Vaughan to lead England down under. A big loss surely?
In my opinion no one's irreplaceable. When Allan Border retired, we all wondered how anyone could ever replace him but then he was replaced by Mark Taylor, who people argued was the best-ever captain. And then he was replaced by Steve Waugh, who probably was the best-ever captain. And now we've got Ricky Ponting. The captain is just one man out of the squad. No one's irreplaceable. Having said that, the biggest loss for England is Andrew Flintoff. We wouldn't complain if he wasn't fit for the Ashes.

Can you see yourself returning to England for one last Ashes tour in 2009?
Who knows? I'm feeling good, and I've just made my highest-ever score at the age of 35. When you get to this age, everyone tells you it's time to retire. But I had a coach at Somerset, Andy Hurry, who every day told me I've got another five or six years left in me. We'll just have to wait and see.

This article was first published in the September issue of The Wisden Cricketer.
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