Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes losing the Ashes to England may be a good thing for Australian cricket.
While he risks being clapped in irons and tried for heresy in some quarters, Ponting is far more sanguine now about becoming the first Australian captain in nearly 20 years to lose cricket's greatest trophy.
"I don't think it was a bad thing for the team or for Australian cricket, to tell the truth," Ponting said at the launch of his book Ashes Diary 2005.
"It was a learning curve for a lot of us. I certainly think and felt that I learnt a lot through the Ashes tour. I think a lot of the players learnt a lot about themselves as well.
"Since we've been back we've managed to turn things around quite drastically and dramatically.
"The way we've played over the last few weeks, we've changed things around quickly, so that's been very, very satisfying.
Ponting said the shock loss had helped renew the focus and desire for a team which had become accustomed to sweeping all before it.
"Just to sort of make us aware of some of the areas in which we were a bit deficient, and give the players and the coaches something to go away and focus on," Ponting said.
In his diary entry for September 12, the day the Ashes were lost, Ponting said the 2-1 margin probably flattered Australia.
"The hardest thing about our defeat is that we know what went wrong - we failed with the bat, lacked penetration and control with the ball (Warne and McGrath excepted), dropped catches, bowled far too many no-balls and lost Glenn McGrath to injury for the vital Edgbaston Test.
"But that was WHAT went wrong; the reasons WHY we failed remain a mystery.
"England played well, putting us under pressure with bat and ball. Despite their excellence, we should still have been able to compete far more effectively than we did."
Ponting said of the entire touring squad, only Shane Warne could look at himself in the mirror and know he had played to his full potential.
"The rest of us have just hinted at the form we are capable of, and that has cost us the series," he wrote.
But Ponting was also sure the team had not gone from world-beaters to deadbeats in one series.
"We underperformed massively ... and I remain convinced that we have the right men to put the record straight," he wrote.
"I expect us to do that over the months that will follow."
Ponting's prediction has come to pass. In the two months since he wrote those words the Australian team has swept a three-match one-day series against the World XI and followed up with two crushing Test victories over the World XI and West Indies.
"We've released a few hand-brakes that we thought might have been on us in England and we've played some great cricket since we've been back, so full credit to everybody," Ponting said.
Having gone through it all, though, a wistful Ponting still wishes things had turned out differently.
"It would have been nice to have won 2-1 and still learn a few lessons along the way as well," he said.