Pain of Ashes past drives Australia Which Mitch will show up in Adelaide? Can Mitchell Johnson reproduce his great performance in Brisbane for the second Test in Adelaide? Jesse Hogan and Greg Baum preview the Ashes clash at the redeveloped Adelaide Oval. PT4M52S http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2ynzb 620 349 December 3, 2013 - 3:06PM Australia is fiercely aware of how quickly an Ashes advantage can come crashing down, and is using the painful memory of first-morning mayhem in Adelaide three summers ago as a cautionary tale. Ashes history is littered with examples of series turning on a single incident or collapse. Think Australia heading into the Edgbaston Test with a 1-0 lead in 2005, only for Glenn McGrath to roll his ankle during the warm-up, an accident from which Ricky Ponting's team did not really recover. The home side was given a chilling reminder of that moment this week when Michael Clarke, the captain and best player, turned his ankle at training. His ankle was stiff and sore on Tuesday and he missed Australia's training session, but a team spokesman insisted he was not in doubt for the match, while Shane Watson said he would train "flat out" on Wednesday. Shane Watson looks on during a nets session at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday. But the Australians have not forgotten how quickly disaster struck on the first morning in Adelaide in 2010, they having played out a draw in the previous match in Brisbane. Jimmy Anderson reduced Australia to 3-2 - its worst start to a Test innings in 60 years - and its Ashes campaign was in ruins. Watson, who ran Simon Katich out for a diamond duck that morning, admitted it was an unusual sensation to be the front-runner in an Ashes series and the team was acutely aware of how quickly it could turn. "We certainly experienced that in the Test here against England last time, losing quick wickets and making it very difficult to claw our way back," he said. We know that's how important it is for us to be able to start well, whether we bat or bowl first. Runs are going to be very important here - the wicket looks very good. The batsmen need to be able to make sure we set a really good total in the first innings. We know against England how important it is to not have those lapses, because that's when we've lost Test matches and not been able to stop that momentum. It's certainly a nice position to be in [leading 1-0] compared to the last three series I've been involved in. But I know how quickly it can change. Australia is full of optimism, and with good reason following the 381-run pummelling of England in Brisbane. But the team is still just a fortnight removed from its most recent batting collapse, in the first innings at the Gabba, and needs to enforce its advantage in Adelaide without breaking the fast bowlers for the third Test in Perth. Vice-captain Brad Haddin tipped a full-throttle assault in Adelaide, despite predictions of a draw on the new drop-in pitch, even if that took too great a toll on the fast bowlers for the next Test. "You've got to push as hard as you can for a result and play the best cricket you can," he said. Perth's 10 days away, so there's no point worrying about that. If it happens that some bowlers can't come up [for Perth], then that's life. Watson looms as a critical member of the attack when it comes to easing the load on Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson, and the all-rounder declared it was his turn to do some heavy lifting. "The wicket will be flat and the bowlers will potentially have to bowl many more overs compared to Brisbane to bowl the English out," Watson said. Clarke is coming off a century in Brisbane and Watson said that he skipped training as a precaution. I know the medical staff is very confident that it was just giving him a break today.