LEEDS (Reuters)
England captain Nasser Hussain will lead his side into their "second" Ashes series after drawing a line in the sand following his team's opening three defeats of the series. Hussain has rejected the idea that the last two Tests, starting with the fourth Test at Headingley, have been reduced to non-events after Australia secured the five-match series by taking a 3-0 lead.

Despite the circumstances, he argued, "England against Australia at Headingley is not a dull sporting event". He has also called for an end to talk about England's run of four consecutive series wins and one draw before the Ashes, demanding instead that his players concentrate on rebuilding their game from a fresh start.

"Yet another Ashes series has gone but we can't just give up - we have to continuously try to get better. We have competed with other sides but not with Australia. We can't keep going on about those 18 months which were so successful, that's all gone.

"We have to get the ball rolling again, either in these two Tests or in the next Test series against India."

Hussain, who played only in the first Test during which he was sidelined with a broken finger, said he hoped to build on the third Test at Trent Bridge two weeks ago. In that match, England had shown "inklings" of being able to challenge the world's best side, matching them in the first innings and then reaching 115 for two in the second before the touringside wrenched back the initiative.

If Hussain wants to write off the first three Tests, however, Australian captain Adam Gilchrist certainly does not. Wicketkeeper-batsman Gilchrist, leading the team in the absence of the injured Steve Waugh, said: "We have set some goals as a group. The main one was to win the Ashes. But Headingley is crucial if we want to aim for a 5-0 whitewash."

Australia have won the past seven Ashes series, as well as winning 19 of their last 21 Tests. England have managed just one win in their last five Tests.

The Australians also have a fine record at the Leeds venue, with eight victories to England's six in the past 22 Tests there. The last three Headingley games have ended in crushing England defeats, by 210 runs in 1989, an innings and 148 runs in 1993 and an innings and 61 runs in 1997.

Teams:

England (from) - Michael Atherton, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain (captain), Mark Ramprakash, Usman Afzaal, Alec Stewart, Alex Tudor, Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick, Alan Mullally, Robert Croft, Richard Johnson.

Australia - Michael Slater, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn, Simon Katich, Adam Gilchrist (captain), Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath.

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