Within their sport, this Australian cricket team has been likened to Bradman’s Invincibles and Clive Lloyd’s West Indians. Outside their sport, an apt contemporary comparison of sporting dynasties would be to the New York Yankees baseball team since 1995.It wasn’t just that they mostly won, it was the way they won: with self-belief that sometimes bordered on brashness. Their fans saw their belief and embraced them. Others saw brashness — plus, in the case of the Yankees, owner George Steinbrenner’s cheque book that underwrote championships — and loathed them.All these years, on the highway to success, the Aussies and the Yankees charted similar paths. Today, at a crossroads, they face similar questions. Depending on what you see and whom you believe, both teams are either in slow decline or in a slump. All summer, they have been threatening to perform, but have been consistently losing the plot.The Aussies we know. For the Yankees, the first half of the long-winding baseball season was their most miserable in the past decade, prompting Steinbrenner to fire tirades and sign more cheques.Both teams revolve around ageing veterans, who’ve been there and done that but are struggling to string it together this season or series. There have been rumblings to make wholesale changes and consign these teams to history but the men who matter have placed their faith in the tried and tested to play catch up.On Monday, the Yankees did catch up, moving into a tie for the ‘wildcard’ lead in their American Division — basically the fourth and final playoff spot on their side of the draw. Still, after the numerous false dawns, few, if any, are saying they look like a championship team.But there are some telling signs. For the first time in the season, three of their five original starting pitchers — the most important men in a baseball team — are healthy and throwing freely. Similarly, Australia are done backing one under-performing veteran. At Trent Bridge, for the first time in the series, they will have four bowlers, not three bowlers and a passenger called Gillespie. Of all the tests they have had to collectively endure, this is among the hardest. The stakes are high. On it hinge some reputations, some careers, and the future of two great teams.The Ashes stars speakSHANE WARNEYou will see us coming out firing this game, no doubt,. I can guarantee you will see a good performance from Australia. I expect some special performances from a few of the guys. I think England will be disappointed they are not 2-1 upJUSTIN LANGER(Against Northants) Michael Kasprowicz bowled quicker than he has, he seemed to have a lot more confidence, was tall at the crease and bowled very well. Shaun Tait in a way gave us what we were expecting him to give us. I have always said Michael Kasprowicz, in domestic cricket, is the hardest bloke to face. He always tends to go across the left-hander and that is always a handfulSIMON JONESIt normally swings up here because of the atmosphere and the Trent river not far away. I think Hoggy (Hoggard) will come into his own here. We bowl as a group. We have got three 90-mph bowlers and there are not many sides who can boast that, and Hoggy swings it miles.It’s a well-balanced attack.
