Only a few dozen people will know how two of Simon Katich, Phillip Hughes, Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook will be feeling just before 11 o’clock on Wednesday morning, when the talking finally stops and the action starts.

The called-upon pair will be not so much opening batsmen as postmen, delivering to the audience a message that will reveal much about the state of mind and readiness of their respective teams. Some responsibility.

Those opening moments have taken on greater significance ever since the 1994-95 series, when an impish Michael Slater slotted the first ball through cover point for four to signal another period of Australian dominance. In 2005, Stephen Harmison’s menace and the unconcerned reaction of England’s fielders when he drew first blood — literally — from Australia said much about England’s uncompromising attitude, while the ball that ended up in the second slip’s hands 18 months later suggested that they were still suffering a hangover from their previous heroics.

It is the quiet of those opening seconds that gets you - unique, in my experience, to Ashes series. The bowler thundering in and the crowd utterly engrossed, more than a hundred years of gripping narrative distilled into one silent moment as expectation, promise and, it must be said, a fair dollop of hot air gives way to the next chapter in the story. In the dressing room, all the hopes and fears of the team are carried by the openers, alone in the middle with just their techniques and mental strength for company.

Katich, back in the Australia team after a stunning revival in domestic cricket in the wake of his disappointing 2005 campaign, has already given consideration to that moment. “Even though we’re still some way out, I’ve given a lot of thought to those opening sequences, especially since I haven’t opened in an Ashes series before,” he said. “On the day I’ll go through my usual routines. I’ll already have gone through the tapes and worked out what to expect, so I’ll have a few hits and then make sure that I make half an hour for myself to just sit quietly and contemplate.”

Katich seems like the unassuming type, but he is a man of contradictions: the son of a wine grower with no sense of smell, and the quiet man with a volcanic temper. Few remember that at Trent Bridge, where Ricky Ponting’s cool melted, having been run out by Gary Pratt, Katich was fined for a remarkable outburst of his own after a poor leg-

before decision; and when, in February, Michael Clarke wanted to leave the Australia dressing room after a victory before the team song had been sung, it was Katich who grabbed him by the throat.

“I keep my temper under control most of the time, but my competitiveness is one of my strengths, and it’s one of the reasons why I’ve played longer than some thought I might at first-class level,” he said. “As for the incident with Michael, that’s over with and we’ve both moved on, but it showed how much the traditions of the baggy green mean to me. At the start of this tour, we all sat down and talked of what the Ashes mean to us, and our earliest Ashes memories and it was clear to me, after that, that this tour and the Ashes remain the pinnacle for Australian players.

“I know we’ve been written off in some quarters, but we’re very comfortable in our skin at the moment. The South African tour was central to that. Without being disrespectful to the older guys — because they were all champions and their records speak for themselves — once the selectors brought in some younger players that had a huge impact on us. They energised us and I think Ricky has been excited by the chance to shape a new team and some new careers, people like Siddle and Johnson. He’s as committed as I’ve ever seen him.”

Since Katich has finished on the winning side against England only once, he is also that rare breed of Australia cricketer whose Ashes experiences have been mainly disappointing. In 2005, England’s swing bowling quartet tormented him outside off stump with close-set off-side fields, packing an arc between slip and backward point, so that he finished the series bereft of confidence and, shortly afterwards, out of the team.

“Having experienced 2005, they will probably come at me with the same plans, but I’m a much better player now,” he said. “I’m very proud of the work that I’ve put in to get back into the team. I did a lot of work with Bobby Simpson, mainly on my balance, so that shots which were squirting square, or behind square on the off side in 2005, I’m now hitting a lot straighter.

“In 2005, because the ball wasn’t going where I wanted it to, my confidence went. I’ll be much more assertive this time around.”

Katich looked as good as his word against England Lions at Worcester, where he scored 95 in the first innings and got another start in the second. But what about his opening partner, Hughes, who was given such a working-over by Harmison? “He’ll be fine,” Katich said. “He’s got a great temperament and for a young player he knows his game really well.

“Generally, our preparation has been a lot better this time around. Reverse swing caught us off guard in 2005. This time we’ve worked hard on that aspect of our game, the bowlers working with Troy Cooley to swing the old ball much earlier than before, and the batsmen getting bowlers to scuff up old balls in the nets so that we can practise against it. We won’t be caught off guard like that again.”