TRYING to stay calm in a tight situation can be pretty difficult. When Glenn McGrath is involved, it is impossible. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy to bits. We’ve shared some wonderful times down the years and he’s a big source of amusement on tour. On Monday, though, he had the whole dressing-room screaming in despair.

Watching from the balcony at Old Trafford, I think we were the only guys who realised just how close we came to losing that amazing Test match in the final over because of one of our great fast bowler’s dopey moments. The story almost defies belief — but I guarantee it is 100 per cent true.

With the ball reverseswinging, we sent out a message to get “Pigeon” — so-called for his spindly legs — to stand out of his crease so that he could not be out leg-before. Unfortunately, he forgot that he then had to make his ground when the ball went past. England wanted him on strike, so they made sure that Matthew Hoggard rushed to the stumps from short leg to prevent a quick single with Geraint Jones back. Second ball, Jones threw to Hoggard with “Pigeon” still outside the crease. But instead of taking off the bails, Hoggard passed it straight on, assuming our guy was in his ground.

Through all the noise, our squad were trying to tell him what was going on. Fortunately, he scrambled a run next ball to get Brett Lee on strike. Then, when he got back to the dressing-room, he was oblivious. You didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. McGrath and Hoggard — see the common factor? Both fast bowlers.

We deserved a draw for our fight and character. The fact is that England outplayed us for most of the time, but we can take some good things from the game as well. To score 371 is a great effort on the final day of a Test match. We came within 52 runs of winning without even thinking about reaching the target.

When Ashley Giles rejoined the attack, I wanted to say to Ricky Ponting: “How about going for it?” No doubt the answer would have been short and to the point. Sometimes you can put too much pressure on yourself as a spinner in the fourth innings. All of England expected Ashley to win the game and he will be disappointed with his performance.

Michael Vaughan batted well with a bit of luck early on and Andrew Strauss will feel better for his hundred. But circumstances were in his favour because we couldn’t attack. I still think he’s the next Daryll Cullinan — just a new, slightly improved version. Meanwhile, Freddie Flintoff goes from strength to strength.

For us, Ricky played one of the best rearguard innings I have seen and Michael Clarke again batted well. A big one is around the corner from him. Our tailenders did a fantastic job, too. The England bowlers tried to bombard us, but we held up in that storm. I wonder if they will change their tactic of bowling short because we’ve shown we won’t just surrender.

The time that our bowlers have spent at the crease has been crucial. We nearly won at Edgbaston and earned the draw a couple of days ago. From my point of view, I guess I was disappointed to get out on 90 in the first innings, but if I keep playing the way I am, then that first Test hundred is still a possibility.

Looking back, I’ve had five genuine opportunities to reach three figures for Australia. It’s funny that in county cricket a guy can bat at No 8 or No 9, score a couple of hundreds in his career and get called an all-rounder. In Australia, he would be described as a handy lower-order player.

The big highlight for me was the 600th Test wicket. As I held up the ball, my eyes fell on the wristband that my kids had given to me when they went back to Australia with Simone. I thought of them and gave it a kiss. Brooke, Jackson and Summer are the inspiration in my life. They spur me on when times are tough. That wicket was for them.

I think England have played as well as they can in the past two matches. We can take a lot of encouragement from the fact that we are still 1-1, even though we have not been at our best. The break has come at a good time for us and I’m sure the batsmen and bowlers will be getting together as groups to work things out.

Criticism is never nice, but you accept it because it comes with the territory. Stories that are completely unsubstantiated and untrue are another matter. There has been a lot of rubbish written about me on and off the field this season and a report at the weekend about a supposed bust-up with Ricky was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Where it came from I don’t know. But if people from the outside are trying to unsettle me personally and the team all together through the newspapers, it won’t work. We’ll be looking into this article in particular and taking it from there.