In a few hours we fly out of Melbourne for Sydney. Perth and losing the Ashes seems a very long time ago.

Casting my mind back, on those final two days we were chasing a mammoth target of over 500 runs. Duncan Fletcher made an inspirational speech, reminding us what was at stake and to just go out and believe we could win.

Alastair Cook then produced the best performance by any English player in the series, making a defiant century.

Just before the close of day four we had Australia on the rack with Pietersen looking in great nick. The Aussies won the following day despite a belligerent 50 by Fred and another fine innings by KP. Despite knowing that it was a near impossible task to chase down the necessary runs on that final day, it was still a bitter pill to swallow when Monty was bowled by Shane Warne, handing Australia the Ashes. I was sitting alongside Liam Plunkett, watching the Aussies celebrate. Being the only two players not to have played a part in the series, we said to each other that we'd remember this moment and use it as our motivation for getting into the 2009 team to ultimately win the Ashes back.

The team sat together for several hours after the game trying to ascertain where we went wrong and generally attempting to put the world to right. It was absorbing to listen to Fred and his thoughts on the series. He genuinely believed that England had done nothing differently compared to 18 months ago. He believed that Australia had simply won the crucial sessions and had more people playing well than we did, but also that the margins between winning and losing are tiny in a series like this and can hang on one or two bad periods of play. It was great to hear this instead of resorting to criticism of the players or management, especially considering the amount of stick he's received from the media over his captaincy and lack of batting form.

It has been amazing how well he's coped considering the enormous pressure he is under.

Following Perth, we moved swiftly onto Melbourne to prepare for the Boxing Day test (or as I prefer to call it the St Stephen's Day test). It was amazing to think that 10 years on from playing a season of club cricket in Melbourne I was returning as part of the Ashes squad. This fact probably amazed a few other people as well considering I had an awful season there, scoring next to nothing and generally being humiliated week in and week out. It was the making of me. I realised how ordinary I was and forced me to recognise how much work I'd have to do to get anywhere in the game.

It was a pretty subdued week leading up to Christmas. Saying that we made the best of a couple of days off, going fishing where I hooked a few flatheads while Hoggy caught at least a dozen. On another day myself, Chris Read, Geraint Jones and our partners took a trip to the Yarra Valley wine region for a spot of tasting. At the beginning of the trip we were noticing the subtle differences between the different wineries' Cabernet Sauvignons. By the end of the day it was getting more difficult to tell red from white.

Christmas Day itself was a surreal experience. We had training early in the morning at a deserted MCG. Halfway through the warm-up we received an early present in the form of sleet and hailstones and training was abandoned.

In the early afternoon we had a fantastic family lunch organised by the ECB, where we were joined by a very large Santa Claus, who looked exhausted, obviously from his work the night before! The festivities were over rather too swiftly. That evening we had a focused team meeting, shifting us back into playing mode.

The following day we won the toss, but it wasn't obvious whether we should bat or bowl on what was a slightly damp but good-looking wicket. I believe we made the correct decision, electing to bat, but after getting through the hardest part up to 100-2, we let ourselves down by being bowled for 159. The most notable achievement was Shane Warne dismissing Strauss for his 700th wicket. With both Warne and Glenn McGrath having announced their retirement from test cricket I can't help but wonder how things could change against the fresh-faced side that will tour England in 2009.

As has been the case throughout the series, we fought back well before tailing off and they claimed the win just before the end of day three. Defeat was doubly disappointing because once again we put Australia on the back foot at 84-5 and if we'd had a few lbw decisions at that stage. . . An innings defeat, doesn't do justice to some of the good cricket we played.

The MCG experience was an exciting one. My first and only time at the ground was for the St Stephen's Day test in 1996 . . . Australia vs the Windies.

Ten years on running out as the subfielder was electric. I was surprised and delighted to see a 'Malahide CC on Tour' tricolour in one of the stands. It was good to have some Irish support at the ground. It brought me back to a few epic battles against Malahide when playing for both Merrion and Trinity.

One in particular, when Trinity lost off the last ball by one wicket in a semifinal, sticks in my mind. However, I remember winning more games than losing against them overall so maybe they weren't here to support the Merrion/Trinity man. . . . PS Happy New Year to Marny and my family xx