The PlayStation generation grows up

When Nasser Hussain passed on the baton of England captaincy to Michael Vaughan in July 2003 he referred to the "PlayStation generation", as he put it. When he retired last year, he talked of giving up his batting place in the England middle order to "young lads" like the 27-year-old Andrew Strauss.

Hussain¹s decisions were informed as much by his own perceptions of himself as they were by reality. He talked of Vaughan and Co. like a bewildered octogenarian talks of his grandchildren with their loud music and bizarre hairstyles.

This England side is not actually that young. The average age is 28-and-a-half. They are maturing rapidly both as cricketers and as men. Three mainstays of the team (Vaughan, Trescothick and Flintoff) all became fathers within the last 12 months, bringing the parent count to six out of England¹s starting XI in their most recent Test.

Parenthood changes people, mostly for the better. Alex Ferguson likes his Manchester United players to be married so they are settled and less likely to be out on the town all the time. And for cricketers who have known little other cricket since their formative years, fatherhood brings a perspective that might otherwise be unexplored. Self-confidence grows with the acknowledgement that your job might not be the only criterion on which you are judged. Realisation that professional success is not the only route to self-fulfilment can be liberating. England's dads are nourished rather than distracted by their new-found responsibility.

Fatherhood is still a novelty for most England players (Steve Harmison being the exception) and there might be more babies to come from the likes of Strauss and Matthew Hoggard, who both married in the last two years. But there will come a time soon, as their kids grow up, that life on the cricket road will become less and less appealing. The lure of home and the fear of missing out on their children's upbringing will intensify.

This is the stage that the Australians have reached. Last September I asked Adam Gilchrist whether he was planning to "do an Alec Stewart" and play till he was 40. He recoiled at the thought. "I won't be doing that. I can promise you," he said. "I'm not wishing my time away but I really look forward to the time I can be at home, spending time with my wife and kids."

Gilchrist is 33, one of seven Australian Test players who are 30 or over. Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne are 35. Retirement is on the horizon both for personal and professional reasons. Warne is a unique case. He gives the impression of a man suffering from a mid-life crisis (even before the break-up of his marriage). Consider the evidence: he befriends a team-mate ten years his junior (Kevin Pietersen) with whom he enjoys a lively social life; he is undergoing hair-regeneration treatment; and, assuming the tabloids are to be believed, he seems to seek out the intimate company of women considerably younger than himself.

There is nothing left for this Australian team, except failure. England are approaching their peak while Australia have passed it. Whether this will have any bearing on the Ashes is a moot point. But in a close contest desire could make the difference.