England bids to halt Aussie Ashes momentum

Adelaide: England face a critical challenge to their four-year Ashes reign in the second Test against Australia starting in Adelaide tomorrow against a re-energised home team looking to drive home their advantage.

Alastair Cook's tourists were swept away by the Mitchell Johnson-inspired home side in the first Test, going down by the enormous margin 381 runs in a match overshadowed by a sledging barrage from Australian captain Michael Clarke.

It was England's first defeat in 14 Tests since losing to India in Ahmedabad a year ago, but another loss in Adelaide could prove an insurmountable blow in their bid to hold on to the Ashes after three successive series wins dating back to 2009

England urgently need to regroup after wilting under Australia's bowling and verbal barrage in Brisbane, their task made all the more difficult by having to find a replacement at number three following the shock departure of Jonathan Trott with a stress-related illness.

The choice to fill Trott's spot is between 94-Test veteran Ian Bell and the inexperienced Joe Root, with Zimbabwe-born Gary Ballance likely to slot in at number six after his innings of 55 in Alice Springs in a tour game last week. England batting coach and former Test captain Graham Gooch was pragmatic about whoever is chosen to fill the crucial number three slot.

"You've got to handle it," he said. "That's part of sport. You've got to adapt."

England must find a way to cope with the hostile bowling of Johnson, who was man-of-the-match in Brisbane with a nine-wicket haul, helping dismiss the tourists for 136 and 179. The left-armer is vowing more of the short stuff but will have different bowling conditions on a drop-in pitch as Adelaide Oval undergoes a transformation into a multi-purpose stadium.

The ground curator said the pitch would offer early spice, prime batting for the five-day duration and reverse swing late in the game. England say they have no problem with Australia's incessant insults after skipper Clarke was fined by the International Cricket Council for telling England's Jimmy Anderson to expect a broken arm during the Brisbane Test.

"I have absolutely no problem about any of what the Australians were doing on the field," Anderson wrote in Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper. "I probably dish it out more than most in the field, so I generally get it back more than most. I expect it and accept it."

Australian opener Chris Rogers is promising more aggression in Adelaide after the home side won their first Test since beating Sri Lanka in January. "They probably haven't been challenged like that for a while and to have someone like Mitch (Johnson) bowling that fast is great for us. Perhaps they were a little bit rattled and we can use that for the rest of the series," he said.

England will be looking to their batsmen to post a huge first innings total at the Adelaide Oval, much like they did three years ago when captain Cook (148) and Kevin Pietersen (227) combined to lead the tourists to a daunting 620 for five declared.

Cook's team went on to inflict an innings and 71-run victory over Australia at the ground -- renowned for big scores -- to take the second Test on their way to a 3-1 series victory.

Michael Clarke's 230 against South Africa in Adelaide last year was the fourth highest Test score at the famous ground behind Don Bradman's unbeaten 299 and the Australia skipper has accumulated five tons in eight Adelaide Tests for a ground average of 100.82.

The teams will not get much of a breather after Adelaide, with the third Test starting at Perth's WACA ground just four days after the scheduled end of the match.

Cook plans to combat the hostilities with runs

Cook plans to combat the hostilities with runs

Adelaide: Alastair Cook plans to combat another hostile reception for his England team in the second Ashes Test by taking the Australian crowd out of the equation.

"You let your cricket do the talking," Cook said today, on the eve of the match at a new-look Adelaide Oval. "Last time we had the same hostile environment when we got here, but toward the end of the series we played some really good cricket and that hostility changed because everyone was very respectful of the way we played."

England are on a three-series roll in the Ashes, having won at home in 2009, in Australia in 2010-11 and finishing off a 3-0 win at home in August. The impatience of Australian fans for a victory was evident during the first test in Brisbane, with the level of vitriol directed toward the touring team even higher than the normal Ashes intensity.

The 381-run thumping Cook's team got from Australia in the series opener was accompanied by some angry exchanges between batsmen and fielders and "sledging" has been among the most frequently uttered words in the 10 days of Ashes discussion since.

Regardless of where and when the term was derived, be it in Australia in 1960s or '70s or somewhere else, sledging -- or the art of verbally intimidating an opponent -- has long been a part of cricket. Australian cricket crowds tend to join in and get very chirpy during the Ashes, offering plenty of loud advice to the England players.

"In that last game we didn't do ourselves justice and they got on top and that's what home supporters do when you get on top," Cooke said. "We knew that coming into this series and a few of us have played a lot of cricket over here. We know how important it is to let the skills out in the middle do the talking and everything else will take care of itself."

Players and officials were criticized for letting the banter go too far in Brisbane. Australia captain Michael Clarke was fined in the wake of the match, but only really because he used an expletive that was heard on the TV broadcast.

Clarke said he accepted and paid the fine, and vowed his Australians would continue to play tough cricket within the rules. Cook was expecting plenty more chatter on and off the field, but added: "it's important that both sides recognize that a couple of scenes in that last test weren't great for the game of cricket.

"People want to see real tough cricket, that's what they enjoy, especially between England and Australia, but there's got to be a boundary that we don't cross," he said. "Maybe last week we let emotion get ahead of ourselves a little bit on some occasions and it got a little bit ugly. (Clarke) and I have a responsibility as captains of both sides to make sure that doesn't happen."

Australia batsman David Warner admitted he went too far by using a post-play news conference to pounce on Jonathan Trott's batting failures in Brisbane. Trott quit the tour after the match, returning to England with stress-related issues. England coach Andy Flower said Warner's comments were not a catalyst for Trott's departure, but was still critical of the way the Australian opener took the sledging off the pitch.

Australia's leaders have said Trott's departure will be off limits for any taunts or banter, but that won't stop them targeting any other perceived weaknesses in the visiting team. Veteran England bowler Jimmy Anderson said he plays by the same rules, as a giver and receiver of sledging.

There was talk of a truce in the sledging, a suggestion rejected instantly by Australia coach Darren Lehmann, and Cook is certain the verbal warfare will continue because both teams know it can unsettle a rival.

"Anyone who says they haven't been affected by sledging is lying," he said. "Something will always be said or done that will distract you for that split second and you'll listen to it, but the skill of it is how you handle the next ball."