I am praying for them

'If you go 1-0 down in Australia, you're generally toast,' Ashes winner Chris Tremlett tells Richard Edwards as the England team prepare for their series opener in Perth on Friday

- Richard Edwards

Chris Tremlett has experienced both sides of the Ashes. There was unbridled joy in 2010-11, when Andrew Strauss’s England cricket side became the first English team to win a series in Australia in 24 years. And then unrivalled misery four years later when Mitchell Johnson subjected England to an examination they had no answer to.

There was only one common thread across both series. “We lost in Perth,” says Tremlett. “We got hammered in 2010, absolutely battered. It’s always a difficult place to play. That Test in 2010 wasn’t because we were shocked by the conditions - Mitchell Johnson just got it to swing and bowled very, very quick.

“In that Test, it wasn’t a case of us not adapting, Mitch and Ryan Harris bowled really well. Ball always bounces more at Perth and it’s extravagant bounce. This attack is a little bit different to the one we were facing; express pace can make a difference. Obviously we were playing at the WACA, but I would expect the Opta Stadium to be very similar - it’s certainly going to be more lively than Lilac Hill.”

The latter was the venue for England’s sole warm-up last week, an uneventful, low-key opener against the England Lions. This is an England side that looks to do things its own way.