Langer recalls that the last time the Australian team had arrived in England to do battle for the ‘little urn’, it was ‘fever pitch’ from the moment that they arrived. Also some of the players had arrived on the day that the London bombings had happened and the entire city had felt like a ghost town. Considering that the last time the Ashes were played in England, the English team had won, it was expected that there would be a huge turn out of fans and England supporters to witness the arrival of the Australian team. In fact all that were present were some cricket news journalists and a few well wishers.

There was also reportedly a different king of Australian cricket player that trooped into the airport to speak to journalists. The overt aggression and bravado that characterises Australia’s media interaction prior to any tournament was conspicuous by its absence. Typically the Aussies begin their campaign by starting the mind games well before the cricket games. By contrast however, this time Michael Hussey spoke about their hosts England with a degree of respect.

"England have added a lot of depth to their squad over the last couple of years and have got guys playing confident cricket. I think it will be a very close series and very challenging for both teams. There have been a lot of new players coming into the England set-up who have been doing quite well and showing they are good enough to play at international level. That bodes well for England. We have been very impressed. We know they have got a good team, particularly in English conditions. A lot of their guys have improved so I think we are in for a huge challenge this summer," Hussey was reported as having told cricket news reporters.

Hussey is expected to be a key player for Australia in their campaign for the T20 World Cup as well as for the Ashes series against old foes England. He is one of the few seasoned and well experienced campaigners in a side that is still largely inexperienced. He is also possessed of some extensive and valuable experience of county cricket which will serve him well as he will be used to English conditions.

Hussey indicated that Australia were confident after winning the Test series in South Africa. "We have a mixture of young fresh faces like Phil Hughes, who is so exciting, with a lot of talent, and has done well in his initial time as this level. We have some good experienced players as well. Hopefully that blend will help us but I think what really matters isn't whether you are young or old but doing the business out in the middle. That's all that counts," he said.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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