Australia v England, 4th Test (Melbourne) - 26th-? December

I love Jonathan Trott.

Currently unbeaten on 141, his Ashes average is 96.33 and in 17 Test matches he averages about 63. Earlier today he had me struggling to remember the name Ravi Bopara.

He says it's down to hard work and is happy to admit that he's not the most exciting batsman to watch:

"I think it's important I don't over-rev when I'm batting and try to look to over-hit the ball.

"I try to be calm and patient and play my natural game, which is to obviously just accumulate here and there and let the other guys hit the boundaries and sixes."

I'm happy to admit that I'd rather watch Trott build a big hundred than get the quick fix of a Pieterson 50 (although both have their place, obviously).

And it's not just Trott. I find myself feeling incredibly happy for Matt Prior - for so long all we heard about was wicketkeeping clangers and finding a keeper-batsman worth his place in the side. Well, Chris Read, Geraint Jones and Tim Ambrose can look forward to a bit more County cricket because now we can watch a performance including six catches and 75 not out and there's nothing particularly surprising about it.

I'm a bit worried about Collingwood though. Now is definitely the time for his place-saving 150 but it doesn't look like he'll get a second dig in this match. The selectors must be tempted to give Morgan a go in Sydney, especially if we've already wrapped up the Ashes.

With the ball Tremlett is having a field day on these hard bouncy wickets, Anderson looks to have recovered from his tired third Test and even Bresnan's come in to take two wickets while Finn rests up. Swann may not have been the match-winner we expected but we've had so many others that it doesn't seem to matter.

I'm staying up for the 3rd day's play tonight. I fancy Prior, Bresnan and Swann to throw everything at it and push the lead up to 500. Then if there's any swing at all we could be 4 or 5 deep into the Aussies again by the close.

Too confident? Maybe. We all saw what happened in the 3rd Test. But this is an England team with confidence and, possibly for the first time in my lifetime, more quality than the Australians.