Stuart Broad has spoken of England's loss after Jonathan Trott returned home from the Ashes tour.
Broad has made it clear England are untroubled by Michael Clarke's Ashes 'sledging', but they are still smarting about David Warner's public criticism of Jonathan Trott.
Contrary to the action - or otherwise - taken by the International Cricket Council, England have much less time for Warner's behaviour than Clarke's during the first Test at the Gabba.
Clarke's earthy advice for tailender James Anderson - "get ready to have your ****ing arm broken", when facing Mitchell Johnson - earned him a near £2,000 ICC fine.
Warner, however, has escaped censure for his press conference description of Trott’s batsmanship as “poor” and “weak”.
England coach Andy Flower has been at pains to rule out any direct cause and effect between those remarks and Trott's subsequent departure from the tour because of a stress-related illness.
Broad, however, has returned to the theme of England’s disquiet - insisting that “mistakes have been made” off the field in this nascent Ashes series.
“I think the on-field stuff has been fine,” he said, reflecting on the controversies amid England’s unexpected 381-run trouncing. “You’re playing in an Ashes Test match - you expect it to be tough. I grew up hearing all sorts of stories about ‘sledging’, and on the field I don’t think a line’s been crossed.
“It’s been tough, (but) we’re grown up; we train ourselves to expect that.”
Broad was careful on Wednesday not to mention Warner by name, but there was no doubt about his reference point.
“Off the field, there have been some mistakes made. As an England side, we pride ourselves on how we conduct ourselves when talking about the opposition, because you never know what’s going on in their changing rooms and lives.”
It is incumbent on England to fight back, starting in next week’s second Test at Adelaide, without their troubled number three batsman.
“It’s heartbreaking for us to lose Trotty,” added Broad. “He’s been part of the side for four or five years - he’s a fantastic guy. He gave us a lot of solidity in the number three spot. But the important thing is he’s got the support of the changing room he’s played with for 49 Tests.
"Everyone's looking out for him, and he gets a bit of privacy at home to get himself right. We wish him very well from Australia here."
Broad himself did all he could to silence the orchestrated boos of the Gabba crowd, coralled into antipathy by media campaigns singling him out after his at times controversial role in England’s 3-0 Ashes victory at home last summer.
He took six first-innings wickets, but said: “Picking up five-fors and scoring 100s in losing Test matches doesn’t mean a lot, because it’s about the result.
“This match was slightly diferent because of the pressure and different things going on with how the Australian people have reacted.”
Even so, he can travel with a spring in his step to Adelaide - via Alice Springs, where England will play a two-day match against a CA Chairman XI this week.
“The boos didn’t affect me too much. Picking up eight wickets in the game, that can stand me in really good stead for the rest of the series.”
England will have to win the Ashes the hard way, after their opening defeat, and also appear to be largely losing an unequal PR battle down under.
They were criticised for leaving Brisbane without interacting with broadcast media at the airport - pictures of Kevin Pietersen apparently ignoring attempts to engage him ran on television channels here.
They arrived in Alice Springs to a more favourable reception - albeit one which also included the cheeky placement of a gaggle of rubber ducks in the arrivals hall, presumably for the perusal of England’s batsmen.
Broad remains optimistic.
“We go to Adelaide, make sure we ‘nail’ that first hour. We need to start well and get back on the train. We won’t put ourselves under the pressure of making it a must-win game.”
He and his fellow bowlers are content with their performance so far - and the prospect of Tim Bresnan proving his fitness in the Performance Programme’s ongoing match back in Brisbane can only raise spirits.
“We’re happy with how we bowled in the last Test match. I thought the unit bowled well together - the seam bowlers especially worked with each other really well. Bresy getting back fit will be a huge bonus for the squad, because we know the quality that he’s got.”
But after a first-innings collapse of six wickets for nine runs, which effectively decided the outcome in Brisbane, the batsmen have plenty to prove.
“We gave some soft wickets away at bad times in that Test match, which really gave the Australians confidence. We know (we have) to exclude that from our game. I think I saw 14 players get out on the leg side, which is really rare for an international batting line-up. It’s something we’re aware of, and there’ll be some hard yards in the nets this week.
“We’ve got to improve ... and we’ve got the characters in the changing room who will do that.”
