A lot of people start there discussions with hypothesis like if England are 30-3 or 80-5...I'm actually a believer that the first and most important step to giving the Aussies a real scare is it were is to get a big opening partnership or conversly if you're bowling first get them 30-3, nearly half my optimism surrounding the Ashes rests on England taking early initiative and then from there on in drive home the advantage. Last summer Australia couldn't beat India in Australia...reason...first and foremost amongst other things ...stubborn opening partnerships...that guy who partnered with Sehwag, what's his name, yes, Aakash Chopra, he didn't exactly set the world on fire, but a lot of starts and not even a single 50, but nearly all the time in the coarse of that 4 match series he and Sehwag played out the new ball without a lot of damage...that allowed the likes of Dravid, Laxman and even Tendulkar to later on come on and really bat with the pressure of their backs. Yes, there was no McGrath and Warne in that series, but I still think a lot will rest on the shoulders of Strauss and Trescothick, a good start will therefore be absolutely imperitive. In fact I would go and say as far as I don't see England winning unless one of the openers has a really good series and make at least 350-400 runs.