To be honest, I can’t remember celebrating another Test victory the way we did in Adelaide. It was the greatest team win I’d taken part in since my third Test — in Sri Lanka in 1992. The intensity of the crowd’s reaction was unbelievable and we stayed in the dressing-room at the Oval long into the night.

Don’t ask me how late we were there; let’s just call it ten past! I set my alarm for 5.45am, jumped in the shower, paid my hotel bill and took a taxi to the airport. Once back in Melbourne, I filmed adverts for Advanced Hair Studios all day and I reckon it was a tremendous effort to remember all my lines.

A few of the England players stayed with us until the early hours. I think the spirit of 2005 lives on. I feel for Andrew Flintoff at the moment as he’s copping some unnecessary flak. It was the right choice to make him captain and I’m not sure if he’s getting the side he wants.

As a captain, you should get the players you want in the XI. If you’re looking around the field at 5pm and you’re not going to bowl a guy, then he shouldn’t be in your side. Having said that, England’s selection issues don’t really interest me, to be honest. To go 2-0 up in Adelaide was our aim at the start of the second Test, but a win for either side looked highly unlikely on the fourth day.

There was a lot of jostling for position and England played some exceptionally good cricket in the first two days. Yes the pitch was flat, yes there was not much sideways movement or spin, but 550 is a lot of runs to get. They could have batted and batted, but I thought Freddie’s declaration was a very good one and that it was good captaincy. They were saying they wanted to win the game, not just draw it.

For us to make 513 in reply was a fantastic effort. At 384 for six when Adam Gilchrist was out, we were still a long way behind and my stand of 118 with Michael Clarke was crucial. I’d told him the night before I wanted to be out there when he made a hundred and I was very happy with the way I batted.

I was really happy for “Pup”, who showed what a level head he has. He was very calm and his strokeplay was fantastic. I think he’s a future captain of Australia.

A former one, Allan Border, once taught me that if you’re not concentrating well, then pick a fight. There was a bit of gamesmanship from Paul Collingwood and Geraint Jones — about how Kevin Pietersen wouldn’t mind getting me out — and that fired me up for the rest of the match.

I haven’t bowled any better in my career than I did in the second innings. I got through 27 overs on that final day at a cost of 29 runs after bowling 53 overs in the first innings and batting for nearly three hours. The prize on offer at the end of the day was a pretty big incentive, but I drew some inspiration from something private between me and a good friend in Australia after a good chat. It was in the back of my mind the whole time.

Pietersen and Collingwood are the only two batsmen who’ve played well for England in this series. Ian Bell’s made a couple of scores, but some low ones as well.

It shows how flat the wickets have been — if you get two batsmen in who are batting well, it’s very hard to get them out if they are disciplined and apply themselves and luck goes their way.

Pietersen’s played exceptionally well, but we’re not halfway through the series. It’s important for him to go on and perform well for the whole series.

On his day, it doesn’t matter who’s bowling — he can make any attack look ordinary. KP was the only England batsman who played me well — plus Collingwood in patches. In the second innings, when I persuaded KP to sweep me for the first time, we had left a few strategically placed gaps to encourage a few things from him. It worked.

I’d like to end by wishing Damien Martyn all the best for the future. I’m glad that he has left the international arena on his terms. “Marto” and I went to Sri Lanka in ’92 and we’ve played a lot of cricket together since. I had no inkling of his decision to retire — it was a complete surprise.

He’s been in really good touch lately, especially in India, where he was our best batsman in the ICC Champions Trophy.