Warriors Chat: IT wouldn't be cricket if I didn't start this week's column discussing the First Test.

It was a great privilege to attend the first day at Lords so I'd like to thank The Pres' Richard Morgan for flogging his ticket to me, forever the business man.

I'm sure everyone is expecting me to gloat about our victory, so who am I to disappoint? It's like I've said all summer, the Aussies will perform when the real cricket starts.

The real cricket has started and although England has performed well in stages, their submission on the final day was weak and does not bode well for a competitive series.

The fragile middle order was no match for McGrath and company and I'm sure the England selectors are ruing the retirement of Thorpe.

Kevin Pietersen was the only positive with the bat but obviously they don't practise their catching in South Africa. Maybe he needs to borrow a pair of Geraint Jones's gloves, although they don't seem to help him much.

You might witness dropped chances at club level I've seen a few but you shouldn't at Test level.

My tips for the series are this, Warne to win player of the series, Vaughan to win an early retirement from the captaincy and the press to crucify England.

An interesting side note is the Aussie soldiers in Iraq dished up a similar flogging to British troops during a one day game synchronised to start at the same time as the First Test.

Nicknamed the Desert Ashes' the teams are playing five games which coincide with the Tests and will only serve to confirm Australia's sporting dominance over England.

Last week's winning draw against Slough was a great result for us and we are now one win clear at the top of the ladder.

The balcony at High Wycombe was christened the Mark Wright Stand' as Wrighty compiled yet another amazing century.

Rumours of Mark leaving the club for national duties have been quashed with England deciding to stick with Ian Bell since he still averages over 100.

The next few games will be crucial as we attempt to extend our winning buffer over Slough and march towards the ultimate success.

Aussie Daniel Senior