ASHES wicketkeeper Geraint Jones is backing himself and the England side to bounce back from their Lord’s defeat and push Australia harder in the second npower Test in Birmingham.

Jones is of no doubt that the Lord’s pitch became a significant factor in England’s eventual 239-run defeat in St John’s Wood and is certain that Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath will not find the surfaces at Edgbaston, Old Trafford, Trent Bridge and The Oval as beneficial.

On a rare day out of the limelight at his home near Canterbury, Jones said: "I must admit I didn’t realise ahead of the Test just how good the Aussies’ record is at Lord’s, no wonder they love playing there.

"Personally, I don’t think we will get another wicket like that for McGrath to bowl on, in fact, I’d like to think that the rest of the pitches this series will be better suited to our attack.

"The Lord’s pitch suited McGrath right down to the ground because from his natural length he was getting the ball to nip back off the seam and keep a little low.

"Our boys like Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff naturally bowl back of that length and didn’t get anywhere near the same assistance.

"Harmi found the length once or twice and got Damien Martyn out with a similar type of delivery that shot in off the seam."

The air of mutual respect between these top two Test sides in world cricket even allowed Jones to add: "I’ve no doubt that Warne will be a factor wherever we play though because quite honestly I think he’d turn the ball off ice.

"He bowled me two beauties first ball up in each innings and that’s something we will just have to try and combat in the next four games.

"All the England players have access to our e-cricket computer system to analyse every ball of a Test, you can play them back over and over in super slow motion and enlarged, so I’m sure we’ll all be doing our homework before we get to Birmingham."

Despite their Lord’s drubbing Jones and the England camp are trying to live up to the modern cricketing ethos by taking whatever positives they can out of the defeat.

And while Jones recognises his place will come under scrutiny following a couple of dropped catches he continues to look at the bigger picture, preferring to focus on what might be rather than recent history.

"We bowled them out for 190 and had a real opportunity to put pressure on them which is a massive boost for our bowlers," said Jones.

"To win any game of cricket you have to take 20 wickets and after Lord’s we know we have the capability of doing that.

"You want to establish things early in a series and we now know in our own minds that we can bowl the opposition out twice and will take that certainty into the other four Tests.

"Sure we need a few more runs to be competitive and beat them, but the bowlers can take a huge boost from Lord’s."

As for his own game and the brace of dropped chances that have heaped further pressure on his position, Jones added: "It’s kind of difficult to ignore because it’s on the TV and in every paper.

"I just try and look forward to the remaining four Tests really because I know I took some good form into the Lord’s match.

"I made a decent batting contribution in the first innings and spoilt what might have been a reasonable performance with the gloves in the last half hour of their innings, which didn’t go well.

"I felt I had kept and batted well in the one-dayers going in to the Test and played a my part in some great displays, in fact, for the first time I was feeling that through my batting and some of the catches I took behind the stumps I was beginning to lift the side with my performances.

"With hard work there’s no reason why I can’t re-produce that level of performance, I know it’s in me."

With the likes of Alec Stewart and Jack Russell still backing Jones’s cause to remain England keeper, the Kent gloveman seems certain to keep his international job a while longer.

Indeed, England coach Duncan Fletcher has made Jones unavailable for Kent’s totesport League trip to play Yorkshire Phoenix this Sunday, a sign that Jones will play in Birmingham.

Kent then return to championship action next Wednesday, August 3 with the Canterbury Festival Week clash with Frizzell Division 1 strugglers Glamorgan.