Do you give the England team even a chance of winning a Test match in this Ashes series, especially given the current form of Australian players such as Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist? Paul Stevenson, Brisbane, Australia

They have an outside chance if they can get a good start at Brisbane and build the team purpose that was very evident under the Hussain/Fletcher axis in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India (two series wins and a narrow loss). The injuries have not helped, naturally, and they look tense and uncertain on the eve of the game, unlike Australia, who are understandably entirely confident that they will retain their superiority.

The key will be the confrontations between the two sets of openers: Hayden and Langer v Caddick and Hoggard (innocuous here so far but ranked 14th in the world, one above Gillespie); and Trescothick and Vaughan v McGrath and Gillespie.

After reading that Glenn McGrath will be targeting Michael Vaughan in the forthcoming Ashes series, I would be interested to hear your opinions on the contest and ultimately who do you think will come out on top? I always enjoyed the battles that Michael Atherton had with numerous bowlers around the world and am looking forward to this one. Daniel Pitt, Loughborough, UK

It's a very significant question because it could hold the key to the series! Vaughan is a very good player whose form throughout this year has been wonderful. He has also had some luck, however, in being dropped quite often (sometimes it goes that way) and McGrath is one of the greatest fast bowlers in history. A betting man would have to back him. After all, he has humbled some very fine players before, Brian Lara included.

Much will depend on how good the pitches are and how Vaughan starts in the first Test. It looks a true, hard pitch at the Gabba, but a bit green for the start. If Vaughan can survive the new ball….

Which England batsman and bowler will have the biggest impact on this series? Ian Holford, Tunbridge Wells, UK

The batsman will be one of Trescothick, Vaughan, Butcher or Hussain. I'll go for Butcher, who has always played at his best against Australia and has definitely learned the art of building an innings more patiently since his confidence was raised by his brilliant and audacious effort at Headingley last year.

I shall stick my neck out on the bowler and say that I think Simon Jones is the most likely to break through. Not perhaps the decisive influence, like Frank Tyson in 1954, but a matchwinner somewhere, possibly Perth.

According to The Australian newspaper: "It's to be hoped that there's more to Flintoff than his figures suggest - a batting average of less than 20 and a bowling average of nearly 48 after 21 tests." Is there more to Flintoff than these figures, or is he the latest beneficiary of the English desire to find the new Botham? Andrew Sparrow, Perth, Western Australia

It's a good question but not one that you, or Malcolm Conn, would have asked if you and he had seen Flintoff batting in New Zealand earlier this year. He is still a rather naïve player, but there is abundant raw talent that is gradually being harnessed to a much fitter frame than before. He catches well, hits it like a kicking mule and bowls fast albeit with little subtlety and an action that takes too much out of himself.

John Emburey some years ago said about touring Australia that "you have to spin it to win it". Given the apparent dearth of spin options, can we write off England's chances right now? Given that the last series victory in Australia included top-class spinners Edmonds and Emburey, his claim has some basis. Name and address withheld