Michael Clarke, as the leading run-scorer this series, has played a pivotal part in Australia's Ashes defence but his most significant contribution could well have come without bat or ball in hand.
When Mitchell Johnson began his final spell against Northampton in a tour game between the Lord's debacle and the third Test, he had match figures of 0-87 from 14 overs and was seemingly on the fast lane out of the Australian team.
Standing at the top of his mark, with doubts about his spot in the side and a host of technical problems racing through his mind, Johnson was given six simple words of advice from Clarke: "Just run in and bowl fast."
Johnson claimed a wicket and created a host of edges, albeit against the tail, but at the time he could not afford to be picky.
A day after claiming five wickets and delivering the knockout blow to England at Headingley, Johnson credited Clarke's advice for his form reversal.
It could well have also been the catalyst for Australia's change of fortunes in recent weeks.
Johnson showed signs of improvement at Edgbaston, which coincided with a concerted effort to be aggressive, but proved he was back to near his best at Headingley, where he claimed match figures of 6-99.
"It's good to bowl a ball where you want to bowl it," said Johnson, who lost total control in the second Test at Lord's.
In a surprisingly candid press conference, called only after Australia won inside three days, Johnson spoke with feeling on Monday night about his on-field woes this tour.
He revealed he had held genuine fears about his place in the attack before the third Test, admitted he hit rock bottom at Lord's, and said the root cause of his problems lay between the ears.
"Bowling at Lord's, I didn't really know where they were going to be honest," he said.
"And I bowled a lot of wide short balls. That was a pretty tough moment for me."
The reason behind his poor showing at Lord's, Johnson believed, was information overload.
"During that Lord's Test I can remember pretty clearly I was thinking about wrist position, I was thinking about front-arm pull down, I was thinking about running in, I was thinking about everything that I could," he said.
"Edgbaston was totally different, I just ran in, didn't worry about it. Michael Clarke said to me at the practice game, when he came out to field, just run in and bowl fast. That's what you do best."
"That's what I've been trying to do, run in, hit my areas and not worry about technical stuff out on the field, that's for the nets."
There have been numerous theories abounded as to why Johnson made such an awful start to the tour.
But the bowler again denied the public spat between his mother and girlfriend Jessica Bratich had played a part. Nor were his problems related to his action.
Johnson said a more aggressive approach to his game, evident at Edgbaston where he exchanged terse words with Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann, had helped.
"I don't normally say too much but maybe it was a bit of a surprise to those guys for me to say something. It felt good to do it and I'll continue to do it," he said.
"Just keep puffing my chest out and keep getting into the contest when I'm bowling, a stare here and there."
"I think that's definitely worked for me and I've definitely got a lot more confidence now and really enjoying it again."
Having the new ball, and the expectation to make it swing, taken out of his hand helped ease the pressure, Johnson said.
Johnson, whose form in South Africa created a groundswell of media interest prior to the Ashes, said he would also try and avoid reading the newspapers before the start of each series.
"I guess there's a couple of (other) things I can do," he said. "Just to go out there and be myself, go out at the start of the series and be confident against who I'm playing again and be confident and believe in my team-mates."