I'm sure that the Ashes are still within our grasp

Yes, it would have been great to win again straight after Lord's and go 2-0 up with two to play.

But, going into the final morning, we knew our chances of winning were reasonably slim and then when the conditions gave us no help at all it would have taken something pretty remarkable to force a victory.

Either we would have had to bowl out of our skin or Australia would have needed to bat pretty averagely for the outcome to be anything other than a draw.

It was still a flat pitch and, unfortunately for us, it had lost the zip that was there on the second morning when we really got among their batsmen. And, just to make it even tougher, there was virtually no hint of swing.

But the bottom line is that we are still 1-0 ahead - and if we win at Headingley then the Ashes are ours. What bigger or better incentive could anyone want to get cracking again on Friday and put the Aussies straight back under pressure?

I can assure you that we are happy, rather than disappointed, with our performance at Edgbaston because there were plenty of good things to come out of it from an England point of view.

If there had not been as much rain as there was it could well have been a different result. And if you want to use that 'M' word which everyone likes to throw about then I definitely think the momentum is still with us.

From the second morning of the Edgbaston Test onwards, we had Australia on the back foot and they had to bat really well in the end to save the game.

But the main reason we are not disappointed is because we are playing positive cricket and everyone is determined to carry on in the same vein later this week once we get to Yorkshire.

Five more days of hard work, a little bit of luck and the right result and the whole country could be celebrating, just like it was four years ago.

Mind you, next Tuesday certainly feels like a long way away at the moment so there is no point getting ahead of ourselves.

The first thing we have to do is rest well for a couple of days, then train hard at Headingley and be really up for it once more when it all starts again on Friday.

Back-to-back Tests are tough but we have already shown in this series that we are capable of handling them. We won at Lord's, remember, just a few days after a long, hard struggle in Cardiff.

As was the case after Lord's, the million dollar question for most people will be the one concerning Andrew Flintoff's fitness.

Well, my reading of the situation is pretty much the same as it was in London.

Fred is feeling his knee, but he knew he was going to. And, having been brilliant with ball at Lord's, he did not bowl as well as he would have liked at Edgbaston.

But Fred was still getting it down there at around 90mph and I would be surprised if he didn't play at Headingley.

He knows he's got two Tests left and it will have to be something pretty serious for him to miss either of them.

And me? I'm feeling strong, thanks, apart from the odd ache and pain which is nothing more than an occupational hazard for a bowler.

As I keep telling our batsmen, it's not an easy job. It can be wonderfully rewarding, though, when things go like they did on the second day at Edgbaston and you manage to pick up five wickets in next to no time.

It is a very special feeling, I can assure you, when you think that every ball you send down is likely to take a wicket.

Everything clicked in that spell, the ball was swinging both ways, and I was bowling at a decent pace. On top of that, I was hitting a good length and really asking questions of the Aussie batsmen, which is my job when it does swing.

And it really is great to get some assistance because the pitches we tend to play on these days, home and away, are pretty placid. It feels like a real bonus when things are in favour.

So why wasn't it the same yesterday - same ground, same pitch, similar sort of weather? You tell me.

The ball did not swing at all and it is a mystery of cricket that no one seems able to solve.

What I do know is that Headingley pitches tend to be flat as well these days.

But when it goes overcast there the ball usually wobbles about a bit so I'm hoping it works out well for us this time around.

One thing I think I can guarantee for the next Test is that the contest between these two teams will continue to be very competitive.

It was at Edgbaston, with the TV cameras picking up a few confrontations between batsmen and bowlers, but I don't believe that anyone went over the top.

Both teams badly want to win this series and the cricket is really hard fought and challenging.

But there has been no swearing on the field or anything like that - just a few heated words.