The Australian camp said throughout the Ashes series it wanted to beat England with Andrew Flintoff in the team. It could not.
But in Flintoff's absence, Australia is showing it well and truly has England's measure.
The Australians won their only Test of the Ashes series when Flintoff was unavailable and, with the all-rounder recovering from knee surgery, have won the opening two One Day Internationals.
Should Michael Clarke lead Australia to a third victory at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Wednesday night, he will hand the team back to Ricky Ponting on Saturday with it just one win away from securing the series.
And his task has been made significantly easier with news England's Ashes hero Stuart Broad will sit out the game after missing the Lord's clash due to a neck injury, joining injured superstars Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.
'Aura' has been a buzzword throughout the tour, and the charismatic Flintoff has it, according to Australia paceman Brett Lee, just as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and David Beckham have it in their respective sports.
"He brings that to the game and possibly, quite possibly, when he's not around that aura he brings to the team is not there," Lee said.
The change in format and the comedown from England's Ashes triumph were conspiring against the home side, Lee said.
The power play, used in 50-over cricket but not in the five-day game, was a great example of the difference between the two formats.
"I know when we've had the power play in 50-over cricket a lot of people that have come from Test match cricket have found it difficult to capitalise on making the most of slogging and hitting out as far as batting goes," he said.
"Even bowling at the death it's totally different to what goes on in Test cricket."
England all-rounder Luke Wright, a heavy hitter with the bat who is crucial in the late overs and a useful medium-pacer, said express quicks Lee and Mitchell Johnson were the difference between the two teams.
"It's hard work," Wright said of the difficulty of scoring against the pair's 150kmh thunderbolts.
"It's one thing that's been so good for them over the years."
"The middle period, they've been able to come on, bowl at 94mph (150kmh) and take wickets."
"That's the one thing they've got on us. It's our job to be able to play that."