Time to end 'Australian way' myth English quick Stuart Broad celebrates the wicket of Shaun Marsh as Australia lose another wicket at Trent Bridge. Picture: Getty Images T he notion "dead cat bounce" derives from the world of finance and describes a small, brief recovery that is, ultimately, of little consequence.
Lord's, the second Test in this Ashes, was Australia's dead cat bounce. 
On one hand the stereotypical Australian attitude of "we'll do it our way" is endearing.
But in a sport that demands success, from the followers even more so than the administrators, patience can wear thin with such an approach.
It did in the 2011 World Cup when Australia selected an express- pace attack in subcontinent conditions that demanded more subtlety (they were eliminated in the quarter-finals), and it is in England where their batsmen show a conspicuous lack of nous against the moving ball compared to their English counterparts.
One of the clearest examples of that came from the top: captain Michael Clarke.
His frankness was admirable, but it was nevertheless gobsmacking to hear what he, a player whose experience spans 114 Tests over almost 11 years, said what he was thinking when he first faced Stuart Broad, the bowler primarily responsible for reducing Australia to a humiliating 5-29 - and 6-29 after that first delivery he faced from him.
"I was thinking 'If he pitches it up I'm going to hit it as far as I can'," Clarke said. "I watched guys around me get out trying to defend and I thought, like I've always said, the better the bowling the more aggressive you've got to be. You live by the sword, you die by the sword."
Contrast that approach with that of his England counterpart Alastair Cook, who later in the day twice survived nicks to slips because he had played with such soft hands.
Sure, Cook had temporarily allowed the bowler to dictate to him, unlike Clarke. But there is not a column in the scorecard for moral victories.
It was a defensive move for Australian selectors to drop all- rounder Mitch Marsh in favour of his specialist-batsman brother Shaun. It was a defensive move for Clarke to move to No.5 when he was struggling, which was duly noted by former England off- spinner Graeme Swann.
"I promise you he'll be reminded every other ball," Swann said on his expectations for England's fielders when Clarke arrived at the crease.
As it turned out, Clarke was at the crease in the second over of the match and was gone by the seventh as England tore through Australia's batting order at an unfathomable rate.
While both moves are easily questioned they were not why Australia ended day one at Trent Bridge in such a dire situation.
There is a reason Australia have won only one of their preceding nine Tests in England.
It was the same reason they lost the first of those nine Tests, when they were bowled out for 88 in Leeds by Pakistan: their batsmen do not show enough respect to the moving ball; their desire to play positively and dictate to their opponents gets in the way.
Steve Smith is deservedly held up as the future of Australian batting, someone whose stature has grown enormously over the past two years.
But what did it say when he, when called on in the first over of the match, played aggressive scoring shots from his first two deliveries then fell attempting a third?
On the surface you can say he was following the lead of the man he will replace soon or later, Clarke, who said he was determined to hit his way out of trouble.
The top six batsmen left the ball for a combined total of seven deliveries. Compare that with England's openers: "walking wicket" Adam Lyth managed 12 from his 28 deliveries, Cook 22 of 87.
While even a fit Ryan Harris probably wouldn't have forced himself into the team for Cardiff there is no doubt he would have been back from Lord's as an integral player now had he not retired.
He has a rare ability to change between a defensive and an attacking approach depending on requirements.
Selectors mulled on the Shane Watson versus Mitch Marsh all- rounder duel longer than they needed to, and if they had been more publicly candid about their concern about Brad Haddin's batting struggles before they dropped him, rather than after, it might have made his exclusion more palatable among supporters and, more significantly, the upset players.
The Australian team is good, but not good enough to assume their favoured approach will win out anywhere and everywhere in the world. The sooner the entire hierarchy, coach and captain included, subscribe to the "When in Rome ..." philosophy the better.