Thunderbolt throat balls call for a boxer's mentality

The Ashes series has turned into the ultimate test for this England side.

Their comeback in India last year was remarkable. But to do it again in this environment is different.

In India you do not have a crowd baying for your blood, media as aggressive as the Australian press, a bowler like Mitchell Johnson sending down 93mph thunderbolts at your throat, an Australian captain desperate to win his first Ashes series or players such as David Warner and Shane Watson, who have had enough of England chirping away at them.

England have given Australia plenty of abuse over the past three series and they feel it is payback time.

It is England's senior players I worry about.

Graeme Swann, Matt Prior, James Anderson, Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook have won many series and are legends of English cricket. They will be able to sail into new careers and be feted as great cricketers because they won three Ashes series, a Twenty20 World Cup and a Test series in India.

Now those senior players have to ask if they are up for the fight on this trip, or are they just going to roll over and let Australia win?

Can they show Joe Root, Michael Carberry, Steven Finn, Gary Ballance and Ben Stokes that England are in town to play a ballsy brand of cricket and show the courage required to fight back?

Swann, Prior and Anderson are the spine of the team. You know what you are going to get from them. But they did not deliver in the first Test of the series in Brisbane and looked as if they had lost an edge.

I hope there has been honesty in the England dressing room after that big loss. You can ask the coaches for advice but ultimately, in a team as experienced as this, the proper work is done during face-to-face meetings between players.

Ask colleagues: "Are you up for the fight?" Demand from each other that you have to be prepared for the challenge.

Why is this the ultimate test? Well, because you can get hurt by someone like Johnson. In India your pride can be hurt by a mystery spinner making you look foolish but here you can be damaged physically.

Fast bowling is a unique challenge. When you have an issue against spin, as England did a year ago in Ahmedabad, putting it right is good fun in the nets.

You go and work on it, get men around the bat, play on dusty decks and hit sweep shots, working out a method by repetitive practice. Then, when you get out in the middle, it is a mental battle over whether you can cope with pressure of the crowd and the moment.

However, when you have an issue against pace, the thunderbolt throat balls, practice is unpleasant. You are bombed in the nets and get a few on the body.

The one thing a batsman does not want on his CV is a struggle against the short ball and quick bowling. You dread such a black mark because it questions your technique and ticker.

Against fast bowling you need a calm exterior but inside your blood has to be boiling. You need to be bouncing around with a boxer's mentality ready for a fight. I want to see that in every batsman in Adelaide.

Fight, execution of shot, understanding the fields set and not taking the easy option by saying: "This is just the way I play".