Moeen Ali insists England’s last Ashes outing is behind them ahead of

Give most professional sportspeople a week off and they are more likely to hit Las Vegas than head to the local community centre in the area where they grew up.

Perhaps it is the belief that he would be working in one of the many nearby takeaways were he not taking on Australia that allows the 28-year-old to keep the challenge of facing Mitchell Johnson et al in such calm perspective.

“I am not getting any freebies in the first spell that’s for sure, so it’s all about hard work”.

Warner said the tactic to put pressure on the spinner – denying him a chance to settle into a rhythm, putting pressure on his captain to remove him from the attack and therefore upping the workload on the seamers – had been a valid plan against Moeen’s predecessor Graeme Swann in the previous series. ‘It can teach you about discipline and life in general.

The scorecard shows Australia went on to be 1-337 at the close of the first day before steamrolling on to win by 405 runs and level the series. Coming from this area makes you street-wise and you need that when you go into cricket.’. However, being more streetwise – and, crucially, showing character in the face of such hostility – will be key when they turn up at Edgbaston for next week’s third Test.

“I don’t think there is any psychological damage but the sad thing was we didn’t show any fight. Even if we were going to lose we should have showed a bit more steel”.

So where would he be now had cricket not changed his life?

Yet the spectre of Johnson, who destroyed England in the last Ashes with 37 wickets, looms large again after he returned to his menacing best during a demolition that was as complete as anything that took place in the 5-0 humiliation.

‘Last year I was just trying to fend them off but at least at Lord’s I was trying to play it and it just got up on me and did me for pace, so I’m not concerned. The best one was Cardiff second innings, I think.

In Cardiff, Smith belted three boundaries from the first four balls he received from the developing spinner only to surrender his wicket to him six runs later when his desperation to get down the pitch saw him end in an unsightly tangle. “We are not anxious at all”. I don’t mind facing him.

“I’ve got him three times now”. ‘It’s my home city, it’s where I grew up and I’m really looking forward to it. “It will be great”, he says.

Moeen Ali insists Mitchell Johnson has no edge over England, declaring Australia’s spearhead has “bowled very well in one innings out of four” during the Ashes.

It was at Edgbaston last September where Moeen was booed during a Twenty20 global against India, his Pakistani heritage the trigger for a reception from a largely Anglo-Indian crowd. At Cardiff I managed to get a couple away.

Jonny Bairstow has been parachuted into England’s squad for the third Test after an outstanding summer for Yorkshire.

Moeen believes that the batting has been stiffened with the addition of Bairstow.

“The standard is completely different”, he said.

“No disrespect to Moeen, but you will get that bad ball whereas Swanny was relentless and you never really got that bad ball, especially as a left-hander”. ‘In fact when I finish playing I think I will open a chippy round here and call it Big Mo’s.’.

“With [Gary] Ballance and Bell where they are at the moment they nearly seem like two easy wickets because they are not scoring as many runs as they would like”, said Moeen.