People are talking about a draw in Perth: let’s take the foot off the pedal, get a draw and then give it to them in the Boxing Day Test.
But I’ll tell you this now – we need to keep that foot flat to the floor, pedal to the metal.
England have been a very successful cricket side: Kevin Pietersen’s won four Ashes, Ian Bell’s won four, Alastair Cook’s won three, Graeme Swann’s won three, Stuart Broad’s won three.
You compare that to the Aussies: Michael Clarke, four losses and one win. Peter Siddle, three losses, Brad Haddin three losses, Mitchell Johnson two losses.
History remembers the winners, and these men should be hungry as hell.
People remember the names Jason Dunstall (four premierships), Dermott Brereton (five), Dipper (five) and Michael Tuck (seven) – these men have won multiple flags with Hawthorn and they’re considered footy megastars.
Then you look at Rene Kink and Ray Shaw from Collingwood, who might have lost five each, and no one ranks them in that class.
It’s about winning, and Clarke and his men are battle scarred by their Ashes losses – we’ve just got to put the foot straight to the floor and grind them.
And with that said, this is a three-day Test match – easy.
The last time England went to the WACA, Cook was averaging 225 for the series, Jonathan Trott was averaging 121, Kevin Pietersen was averaging 135 and Ian Bell was averaging 144 – and they still got done like a dinner.
This time Trott’s gone home and the rest aren’t in good nick. They couldn’t make a run over there when they were in form, so how are they going to go this time?
There used to be Tests that had a rest day, well this one will have two.
Last time they were in Melbourne and Sydney, they absolutely slaughtered us.
Haddin, Shane Watson, Clarke, Siddle and Mitchell Johnson – these blokes got absolutely burnt the last time England were out here, so they’re out for blood – they want 5-0.
And when are England going to let those three big giraffes out of the cage? What are Steven Finn, Boyd Rankin and Chris Tremlett doing here?
When England landed we saw these three big fast bowlers and we thought ‘jeez, England’s armed and dangerous’.
Tremlett played the first Test, but they’ve just kept them in their cage. Let’s see what they can do.
*Rodney Hogg writes for The New Daily
