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New year, new attitude ... Michael Hussey says it's time for Australian cricket to start the rise again. (Getty Images: Ryan Pierse)
Having been torn down comprehensively in 2010, Australia's cricketers have resolved to start the arduous journey back to the mountain top in 2011.
Form, confidence and performance all fell away badly as the Ashes series reached its pivotal point in Melbourne, and senior batsman Mike Hussey said the task of regeneration now lay ahead for a dressing room unsettled by numerous team changes.
"(We need) to try to start the rise again, getting back to where we want to be - getting a team together we believe in and sticking with them and hoping to build our way back up," he said.
"We'd like to be number one in the world, it's going to take time, but it can start now."
With the Ashes well and truly gone, Hussey was doubtful if a series-levelling victory in Sydney would erase the shame of defeat.
However it would promote a greater sense of self-belief than existed in the catacombs of the MCG after the innings defeat that surrendered the urn.
"I don't know about saving face, but we do feel it'll be great and a real moral victory for us if we can get it back to 2-2," Hussey said.
"That would give the guys a great feeling, and a lot of confidence going into the next year.
"But it hurts a lot, because we came in with such high expectations and belief that we could win the Ashes."
For Hussey this series has seen a great deal of change around him, from the exit of his state captain Marcus North and off spinner Nathan Hauritz, to the experiments with Xavier Doherty and Michael Beer and now the introduction of Usman Khawaja.
Watching a succession of nervous new faces join him in the dressing rooms of Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne, Hussey argued for greater continuity.
"It's definitely different, getting to know the guys really, how they go about their game and how they prepare - trying to find out what sort of sense of humour they have and where they fit into the team dynamics in that respect," he said.
"It's an important part, having plenty of banter in the dressing room and feeling comfortable to give Beery a bit of stick or try and find out what makes him laugh - and getting it back as well.
"It does take time to build a really good team.
"I think when we find the right guys it's important we show a lot of belief and faith in them, stick with them for a period of time - because that's how team spirit really builds and the team can improve over a period of time."
- AAP
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