Form and venue favour Australia

The back page of today's Adelaide Advertiser provided a mocking commentary on a dismal week for England's cricketers. "L-Plater," gloated the headline accompanying "the photos they didn't want you to see" - photos of England's broken spearhead, Steve Harmison, walking through his wonky action in Tuesday's one-on-one coaching session with Kevin Shine. When England boasted in the build-up to the series of the youth and vigour of their squad, they never quite envisaged that one of their most important assets would be sent back to school for remedial work.

"It's hard to watch somebody struggling, especially in front of a lot of people when they are getting abused from all sides," said Matthew Hoggard, Harmison's new-ball partner on that first morning at the Gabba. "He openly admits he didn't bowl well, but he's worked hard - he was down here yesterday and again at 8.30 this morning. He's been putting in the hard yards and I think we'll see a different Steve Harmison come Friday morning."

England's first full training session at the Adelaide Oval was a vigorous work-out, with Harmison, Andrew Flintoff and Sajid Mahmood all cranking through the gears in a bid to lift England's prospects ahead of the second Test. But so far in this series it is the Dad's Army of Australia that has gone about its work with real energy and enthusiasm, something that Matthew Hayden attributed directly to the Ashes defeat of 2005.

"We were hungry and ruthless at the Gabba, but it was everything Australia had promised over a 14-month period," he said, referring to his team's wake-up call last summer. "It was a very good and convincing win, but our attitude remains that we are second still. We've got a point to prove and an unquenchable thirst, and the simple recognition of that fact will stand us in good stead throughout the series."

It's little wonder Australia are so upbeat. They have just swapped one stronghold at the Gabba for another at Adelaide - a ground where they have won nine of their last 11 Tests, dating back to England's win in the 1994-95 series. In that time there has been just one draw and one freakishly high-scoring defeat, against the Indians in 2003-04. "Batting here is such an important part of the game," Hayden added, just to underline the cruel importance of Friday's toss. "Whatever you do first here is so crucial to the game."

"We're here to win," added Hayden, bullish sentiments that Hoggard, on England's behalf, couldn't quite bring himself to share. "It's important we don't lose," was his underwhelming call to arms. It was understandable in the circumstances, but nevertheless it was several worlds away from the in-your-face attitude that this same squad of players - give or take a few notable exceptions - had shown in the same circumstances in 2005. England are playing with their tails between their legs, and that has been as apparent in their off-field comments as their on-field actions.

Even so, it's unlikely England's toiling bowlers could have chosen a less hospitable venue for such a make-or-break encounter. The cracked, dry heat of South Australia makes for a lower-bouncing, more batsman-friendly surface, although Hoggard vowed to call on all his experience - particularly his arduous, accurate spells on the subcontinent - to carry England through a pivotal five days.

Both Hoggard and Hayden were mystified as to why the new ball had not swung on that first morning at the Gabba, although the drier Adelaide surface should offer some reverse swing by way of compensation. That brings Mahmood very much into the reckoning for his first outing, but it seems more likely that England will opt to play both their spinners, Ashley Giles and Monty Panesar.

Hayden, however, didn't appear overly alarmed by the threat posed by the pair - he was so laid-back, in fact, he seemed to mistake Panesar, his old county colleague, for an offspinner. "We're not overly concerned, because there's not a lot of threat with either of those two players," he said, before adding: "Monty's a good young cricketer who bowls with beautiful flight, very similar to Daniel Vettori's from New Zealand, only with a different arm." Vettori and Panesar, of course, are both left-arm spinners.

Adelaide's short square boundaries - 60 metres on either side of the wicket - can be an inviting target when spinners and wayward fast bowlers are in operation, but Hayden refused to get carried away by the momentum that Australia has already gathered in this series. "The thing about batting is it's such a reactive game," he said. "You can only bat how they bowl. I think we'll be looking to play pretty straight as always, and if we have to run a bit more than we'd like to, so be it."

Meanwhile, the buzzword in the England camp this week is "fight". Flintoff spoke of it in his post-Gabba press conference; Panesar and Mahmood were both pugilistic in their respective columns for Cricinfo and the Guardian, and today Hoggard also had his fists up for the cause. "We need to go out and show the Australians we're here to fight," he said. "England have shown good resolve and the ability to bounce back in the past and that's exactly what we need to do this time."