Australia can hurt England in a number of ways, and the captain is a class act. Glenn McGrath's exclusive Ashes columnThe first session of any Test is crucial but even more so in this Ashes series. There are a couple of old wounds that could reopen today if Australia get off to a flier.
England will start thinking again about what happened in the last series because regardless of what they say, it is very difficult to put a 5-0 whitewash out of your mind.
England have tried to say that series is in the past and that they have moved on but Mitchell Johnson knows he can bring back bad memories. There are a few England guys still around who struggled on the last tour. Joe Root has been playing wonderful cricket recently but he had a terrible tour and ended up being dropped for the Sydney Test, so perhaps that will be in the back of his mind when he faces Johnson. If Johnson comes out and gets the batsmen jumping around, hitting the seam, then the 5-0 whitewash could soon come flooding back for England.
It is important for England that they continue the good positive cricket they started playing in the one-dayers and if they do that it has the potential to be a really good series. But if they retreat into their shells again then it could be a very one-sided series in Australia’s favour.