Chris Tremlett has experienced both sides of the Ashes.
There was unbridled joy in 2010/11, when Andrew Strauss’s England cricket side became the first English team to win a series down under in 24 years.
And then unrivalled misery four years later when Mitchell Johnson subjected England to an examination they had no answer to.
There was only one common thread across both series.
“We lost in Perth,” says Tremlett. “We got hammered in 2010, absolutely battered.
“It’s always a difficult place to play. That Test in 2010 wasn’t because we were shocked by the conditions – Mitchell Johnson just got it to swing and bowled very, very quick.
“In that Test, it wasn’t a case of us not adapting, Mitch and Ryan Harris bowled really well. Ball always bounces more at Perth and it’s extravagant bounce. This attack is a little bit different to the one we were facing; express pace can make a difference.
“Obviously we were playing at the WACA, but I would expect the Opta Stadium to be very similar – it’s certainly going to be more lively than Lilac Hill.”
The latter was the venue for England’s sole warm-up last week, an uneventful, low-key opener against the England Lions. This is an England side that looks to do things its own way.
Captain Ben Stokes wasted no time in hitting back at the critics who have questioned why England are preparing for cricket’s most intense series by playing against another side from these shores on a slow and low pitch that will bear no resemblance to the one awaiting them in a city where England haven’t won since December 1978.
“I think it was Michael Vaughan who said he was quite worried they were playing at Lilac Hill because of the nature of the pitch,” says Tremlett. “I would probably have to agree with him.
“I’ll be praying for them when the series starts. I think it’s very hard to predict what might happen, not just in Perth but in the rest of the series. What I do know, though, is – if you go 1-0 down in Australia, you’re generally toast.”
England looked to be sliding to defeat in the opening match at the Gabba in 2010/11 when the Aussies skittled them for 260 and then responded with a mammoth first innings of 481.
England’s jaw-dropping response set the tone for the rest of the series as Alastair Cook, Strauss and Jonathan Trott all scored centuries in a second innings reply of 517 for 1.
The opening Test four years later followed a similar pattern, minus the heroic comeback.
Johnson – who famously bowled to the left, and bowled to the right in 2010/11 – found his radar and scattered England’s stumps to all four corners of Australia. That Test ended in a 381 run win for the hosts – a hammering from which England would never recover.
“The worst trip I’ve ever been on,” says Tremlett. “It’s a tough place to go when you’re losing.
“It’s an emotionally draining, psychologically draining and physically exhausting tour.
“When you’re losing in Australia, it’s not a nice place to be. The wheels just came off (in 2013/14). We were getting hammered, not just on the pitch but by the press.
“But, for me, the frustrating thing on that tour was that we had little glimmers.
“We got ourselves in a good position with the ball time and again and then Brad Haddin would just come in and put on hundreds with the lower order.
“There were little highlights during that series, though. Probably the biggest was Ben Stokes in the Perth Test. He showed what he was made of.
“Mitchell Johnson was bowling absolute rockets, but he didn’t take a backward step and got 120. It was just a fantastic innings, particularly given everything else that was going on.
“He was confident, aggressive – that was the innings that started it all, I think.
“The wickets in Australia and particularly in Perth are suited to the way Ben plays, he loves the ball coming on, he loves taking on the bowlers.”
With Australia missing both Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins for the first Test, Tremlett believes that there’s an opening that England can exploit.
And the best way of fighting Australian fire, in his eyes, is to come at that with pyrotechnics of your own.
“Express pace can make a difference,” he says. “And we have the quick bowlers who can exploit those conditions. Jofra (Archer) and Mark Wood firing – that gives me a lot more confidence.
“Play those two, rough up the Aussies. You want to build pressure, that’s how you win in Australia, but playing those two sends a message.
“I’d rather have them playing in that Test together and then maybe alternating for the rest of the series, but let’s have a go at the Aussies.”
Tremlett took the wicket that eventually sealed the Ashes at Sydney in January 2012.
That win at the SCG followed one of the most resounding hidings ever handed to Australia in a Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
The hosts were bowled out for 98 in 42.5 of the most joyous overs ever delivered by an England side on Australian soil.
“It was nuts,” says Tremlett. “Bay 13 is no place for an English player to be fielding at the MCG but that day it was great fun. There was just a stunned silence.
“I remember growing up watching Ricky Ponting on TV – he was just a fantastic cricketer, an unbelievable batsman.
“When he nicked off at the MCG – that was probably one of the best balls I’ve ever bowled.
“When it comes on the highlight reels, that’s the one I really like watching.”
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