Nice way to set up the Ashes

I picked Australia to retain the Ashes 2-1. The English win at Lord's takes care of the "1" part of that prediction. Can Australia take care of the "2"? Strange as this might sound after the 115 run drubbing at Lord's, I still think they can. I do not think the Aussies will bat and bowl as badly as they did in the first innings of this test. Some of that improvement might come about just because Johnson will get dropped for Edgbaston; some of it will come about because North, Katich, Hughes, Ponting, Hussey and Clarke, is still a decent batting line-up capable of scoring heavily. But England's bowling, if it continues to be as high-quality as it was in this test, will make life hard for my prediction. Sure, Flintoff could break down again but no Australian should be hoping for an opponent to be injured in order for a victory to come through.

Before the series started, one could have easily dismissed the Ashes hype on the grounds that both teams were flirting with mediocrity (perhaps England more than Australia). But the results and the drama of the first two tests have ensured that this will be a cracker of a series and a wonderful advertisement for test cricket. Ponting and Strauss remain slighly duff captains in my opinion, but there is enough kindling on the fire now to set up a nice blaze.