THERE is no point pretending that Australia have begun the summer as we would have wished. No doubt England have taken confidence from the past fortnight or so because the aura of invincibility around us has started to disappear. But at the back of their minds they will know how Australia sides can perform at full throttle with games under our belts.

We are not in uncharted territory here. I remember my second tour, in 1997, when we lost all three one-day matches and the first Test. We eventually won the Ashes series 3-2, and England’s second win was in the dead game at the Oval. Then, two years later, we were all but out of the World Cup. We needed to win seven games in a row, but we did it with the help of a tied semi-final against South Africa.

The situation will turn around for us now, as it did on those two occasions. All it takes is a special performance from one bloke to get the buzz going. In 1997, Glenn McGrath came up trumps with eight wickets in an innings at Lord’s. Although the Test match was rained off it gave us the injection of self-belief we needed to go on and play to our potential.

Our batsmen and bowlers have not found their rhythm so far. But is anybody really surprised? Let’s put this into perspective. Most of the guys had gone something like nine weeks without competitive cricket before they arrived. McGrath always says that he gets better as he plays, so I expect we will soon see an improvement from him. Jason Gillespie and Mike Kasprowicz also need overs behind them.

I think people might overplay the significance of the game at the Riverside today. At this stage all Australia have to do is to reach the final. It doesn’t matter whether we go through first or second in the group because when it comes to the big match at Lord’s, it will be a one-off where any of the fantastic players on display can have their day. You don’t always have to be the better team to win a one-day game.

The return of Andrew Symonds is significant. He is a fantastic one-day player because he can bat, fields brilliantly and bowls two ways. He has served his time and will move on quickly. He’s a down-to-earth guy who gives everything for Australia and was one of our best players in the last World Cup. I’ve got him down as man of the match today.

Assuming we beat Bangladesh in our next two games, and that Bangladesh don’t beat England, the final will be the one that everybody expects. I ought to say fair play to Bangladesh, by the way. That was a great win for them in Cardiff on Saturday, but if they beat us again I really will hit the big red panic button. With both hands.

In the meantime I can only repeat what I said the other day. England fans, enjoy the moment. Your team is playing superbly and everything is going your way. But don’t get too far ahead of yourselves. The time to gloat will be the second week in September . . . if your hands are on the Ashes. That remains a very big “if”.

I RANG Kevin Pietersen on Sunday night to say “well done” for his innings against us at Bristol. Even a few hours after the match he was still thrilled, and he was entitled to be after batting like that. I suggested it might be better if he saved his best performances for Bangladesh. I don’t think he was convinced.

I wrote a few weeks ago that he should play in the Test series ahead of Graham Thorpe, but I was tinkering around with pencil and paper yesterday and came up with a way of fitting them both in. My solution is to leave out a pace bowler and give Flintoff the new ball with Steve Harmison. If the weather continues as it is, Ashley Giles will be bowling lots of overs anyway, and Ian Bell and Michael Vaughan can chip in. Australia have gone with four front-line bowlers for years. Pietersen is just too good to leave out. Put it like this: if England don’t want him from mid-July, I’d be overjoyed to have him at Hampshire.

As a county captain you love to see your own players receive international recognition, so I was pleased to see Chris Tremlett take four wickets on his England debut on Tuesday. He causes problems with his height and he is still improving. If he keeps his body language strong and really gets aggressive he will be a handful for many years.