England go into the pivotal 2nd Test at Edgbaston with the weight of history suggesting they could pull off an upset and level the Ashes series 1-1.

Not only have England won 20 of the 40 Tests they have played at Edgbaston, but they also lead Australia 4-3. It is a marked contrast to their woeful record at Lord's, where they last won a Test in 1934 and lost by 239 runs in the 1st Test.

England defeated West Indies last year here when Marcus Trescothick grabbed two tons and Ashley Giles took nine wickets, and Giles should play a big role again on a pitch expected to dry out after several days of sunshine and take spin later in the game. Paul Collingwood, a late addition to the squad, has already been sent back to Durham from the 13.

Criticism of Giles's Lord's performance got him worked up this week and he need to refocus if he is to prove his critics wrong on his home ground. Channel 4's Geoffrey Boycott has branded Giles's reaction "namby pamby" but Michael Vaughan dismissed media reports in his pre-match conference.

"I didn't know anything about it until Friday," said the England captain. "When you've got a baby girl you don't get much time to read the papers. But when you play badly you must expect to get criticised. We've enjoyed all the praise when we've done well and we will again."

Vaughan's sense of perspective could be a vital inspiration to his team, though he did admit to a heap of emotions when his participation in this game was in doubt on Tuesday. He was struck on the elbow in a net session and feared a break, but x-rays revealed only bad bruising and a jab did the rest.

The omens are good for Vaughan because he has spent the week alternating between technical sessions with Duncan Fletcher in Leeds and relaxing at home with wife and baby daughter, a regime that last year produced two hundreds at Lord's against West Indies. His ton for Yorkshire against Kent on Sunday suggested he could be running into form.

Ricky Ponting did not think so. "Michael is not in the best of form at the moment. As soon as he comes in I will be throwing the ball to Glenn McGrath because I don't think he likes facing him. Glenn likes bowling at him because of his initial reactions as a batsman."

Vaughan countered by saying he had had a lot of success against McGrath in Tests and recent one-dayers and was looking forward to the challenge. It will be a pivotal duel in this Test match.

England need more runs from their batsman, especially Vaughan at three. If that happens, pitch conditions could play into the hands of their bowlers. Groundsman Steve Rouse claims the pitch has a hard crust but a soft underbelly which could cause uneven bounce as the game goes on. Bowlers with steepling lift, who bowl just short of a good length should do well and England possess two champions who fit that bill in Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff.

Because of the conditions there is an argument for picking the 6ft 7in Chris Tremlett ahead of Matthew Hoggard, though England will probably stay faithful to the XI that lost at Lord's.

Hoggard should keep his place, but he is under pressure after a poor performance in the 1st Test. He was the weakest link in England's four-pronged seam attack, a poor follow-up to his widely quoted comments about Australia's ageing seamers.

If England keep Australia in the field long enough and pull off an unlikely win at Edgbaston, the truth of Hoggard's observations could become apparent at Old Trafford where England's twenty-somethings should have more gas in the tank than Australia's thirty-somethings given the prevailing wind of a Test victory at Edgbaston.

England lost by an innings in 2001 when the Australian attack comprised the same four bowlers as this game, but Vaughan says England will be inspired by the patriotic fervour of the crowd.

"We have a good record at Edgbaston and we all enjoy the crowd and the atmosphere. Then again, we had a good record at Lord's and we only played well for a day and a half. We have to keep out our performance levels up for five days to give the crowd something to cheer about."

England: (expected) MP Vaughan (capt), ME Trescothick, AJ Strauss, IR Bell, KP Pietersen, A Flintoff, GO Jones, AF Giles, MJ Hoggard, SP Jones, SJ Harmison.

Australia: RT Ponting (capt), JL Langer, ML Hayden, DR Martyn, MJ Clarke, SM Katich, AC Gilchrist, SK Warne, JN Gillespie, B Lee, GD McGrath.

3 Aug, 2005