Pom-bashing time

It is, finally, time to get into Anticipating the Ashes mode. Not because the series is coming up, but because England has just finished their last 'big' series before the tournament, and from here on they have a few ODIs, a home series against Bangladesh, and then the Australians.
There's a potentially fascinating triangular series between England, Australia and Bangladesh preceding the series that can only add to the excitement...
Anyway...so it's just six months or so now before the Ashes begin. Shane Warne has done his bit to ridicule the sentiment, but a bit more can't hurt:
Ahem! England's got their best chance of winning the Ashes in a long time, they say. Strauss, Vaughan, Trescothick, Butcher, Thorpe...Hoggard, Harmison, Jones and Giles...and Flintoff. They can't go wrong. Not this time.
Now...HAHAHA...but have all these people collectively lost it? Strauss, yes. Flintoff, yes. Hoggard, possibly and horribly. Then what? Thorpe will at best save a couple of sessions. Who's going to win them for Vaughan?
Is it just talk or have they actually managed to convince themselves that they have a realistic chance? Dunno...
For starters, there's no way Harmison-Hoggard-Flintoff-Jones are going to remain as a unit till June-July. Flintoff and Harmison are already injured. And now it's Jones' turn. Hoggard...well...he's not very British, is he? So who is going to do the bowling for them? Giles?
I'd love to sit around watching the series.... Yes, nothing like a spot of Pom-bashing to get the spirits up. It's become repetitive of course, but this season's got that added edge. And therefore, more fun.