Swooping magpie put the wind up me but I’m flying high and ready to take off

Watching brief: Bell is hoping to look at some film of him scoring 192 against Australia A before the start of the First Test
10 April 2012

Four years ago, I felt pretty nervous before my first Ashes Test in Australia and I was desperate to make the Aussie team think I was a good player. Before that series, I had a fair bit to prove, because even though we'd won in 2005, I hadn't scored anywhere near the amount of runs I had to.

Now, with just hours to go until we get under way at the Gabba, all I'm worried about is helping our team win the Ashes. Whether or not Australia rate me or think anything of me really doesn't bother me.

I've had some great advice from people like Graham Gooch and Andy Flower during the past couple of years and I'm very comfortable in my own skin and with my own game.

In fact, my most worrying moment on this tour was when a magpie tried to bite me on the nose while I was playing golf the other day! There was no damage done, and anyway, I'm not superstitious . . . but I did see two of them, luckily.

If we can succeed in Australia, it will be the best thing I have ever done in my life. I've had a good 18 months in international cricket and I'm high on confidence. I'm looking forward to the challenge and given where I am in my career, I'm just excited to get out here. The pinnacle for any England player is to win the Ashes in Australia.

When people are reading this in England, it'll be approaching the morning of the game in Brisbane and I have a very clear idea about how I want to prepare for this opening Test. The night before a game, it would be room service for me, then I'll just chill out and watch footage of some good innings I've played, just to get positive things running through my mind before the series.

I've got some film of the 192 I scored against Australia A' in Hobart last week which I was planning to have a look at, as well as the 72 I scored at The Brit Insurance Oval when we won there in 2009 to regain the Ashes.

That is as well as I have played in an Ashes Test when it really mattered. On the way to the ground, I'll be pretty quiet but very excited inside.

I'll be listening to a lot of music and when we get to the Gabba, I will have made sure that everything is exactly how I want it.

I'm not fanatical about being immaculate — in fact, my girlfriend would probably say how disorganised I am at home — but when it comes to cricket, it is slightly different.

We have lockers at the ground and when I arrive tonight, my bats, pads, Test cap, shirts and jumpers will be ready to go. I need to focus my mind on the game so I'd never just chuck everything in my bag and be wondering where it was until the last minute, as some other players might.

If I'm not the first player in the nets after we reach the ground, then I'll definitely be the second one.

I like to get my preparation out of the way before our team meeting in the dressing room, which will be at 11pm — UK time — tonight. Straussy and Andy Flower will say a few words, and, if we're batting, I'll try to relax as much as possible before the time I have to put my pads on.

As I'm batting at No6, I won't really concentrate fully on what's happening until we're two or three wickets down. Watching every ball can be really mentally challenging, and I'd prefer to save that energy for when I'm batting, so early in our innings I'll probably read the paper and just keep an eye on what's happening.

Some players like to be left alone when they're waiting to bat but I don't mind if there's music blasting out or if people around me are chatting.

It's important to keep the dressing-room environment as relaxed as possible. We have to be switched on but the last thing you want is for people to be tense, not looking at each other or scared to say anything.

Why are we so confident about our chances in this series? We've become quite close as a group through some really tough times. Everything that happened in the Pakistan series brought us closer together.

You look at the Tests we saved in Cardiff, Pretoria and Cape Town and you think that maybe England teams wouldn't have got through those situations. Sometimes, those things are even bigger than winning Tests.

Australia showed us how to play cricket last time we were here. They taught us a hard lesson about being the No1 side in the world but we can use that experience to do much better this time.

This team have been playing good, consistent cricket for a long time now and we're looking forward to putting some real pressure on the Aussies.

Ian Bell will write for Standard Sport throughout The Ashes in association with Lebara Mobile with whom you can call Australia from 4p a minute.

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