A new year, a new start

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Well I saw a little bit of Elena Baltacha before she was outed and was impressed by her, and by the support the Brit fans gave her... hopefully she'll fly the flag for you guys soon. I know she was massacred in the third round, but the press seemed to give her a fair go I thought...? And I'll keep an eye out for Andrew Murray SP... and I hadn't realised how many of your juniors had early success and couldn't carry on, although I don't think that's unique to the U.K.

Wooldridge is right about Michael Clarke, but only half-right about the tennis. The early rounds are generally pretty boring I agree, but you can hardly say that now that we're into the fourth round... mesmerising stuff much of it.

As far as the Ashes go, well, it's hard to see England winning the series, but if they could perhaps win the first test and get a bit of belief in themselves, they might yet have a chance. But as Wooldridge says, the difficulty at the moment is that the Aussies have such depth and confidence that they generally bounce back from a bad session or two. England also have plenty of depth, and with the home advantage really just need a heap of belief. Australia are far from invincible. India, Pakistan, Windies and even New Zealand have proven recently that you can get on top for a while at least. The side that applies that pressure and then doesn't let go will win a series.

They should be like Ganguly in this picture - give 'em heaps. There's no point being tentative. The days of Brearley and Boycott are over lads.