The England [Images] cricket team were suffering from a lack of confidence heading into the first Ashes Test at Lord's on Thursday, according to Australian opening bowler Glenn McGrath.

McGrath, who is on 499 Test wickets, said the Australians had noticed England's players were exuding self-belief during earlier one-day matches on the tour but had started to slump with Australia's comfortable victories in the last two matches.

Images: Best of the 2003 Ashes series

"To me, body language is the biggest key and that is one thing Australia does so well," McGrath was reported as saying by The Australian newspaper on Monday.

"During the last two one-dayers (at Lord's and The Oval), it was quite obvious to see that their body language had dropped.

"It was so quiet out there (on the field), That is a sign that it won't take much to get on top of them. It is easy to get aggressive when things are going well.

"They believe in themselves more than in the past. They have world-class players and that helps, but whether they really believe they can beat us, we will have to wait and see.

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"In the back of their minds, they will know we probably had the edge over them in the one-dayers."

McGrath said he also felt that England relied too heavily on certain players to perform, notably openers Marcus Trescothick [Images] and Andrew Strauss [Images], captain Michael Vaughan [Images] and fast bowler Steve Harmison.

England needed to ensure that Harmison was right for the series after he had a disappointing return in South Africa, where he admitted to suffering badly from home sickness, McGrath added.

"I thought England had a far better team and should have beaten South Africa, but Harmy (Harmison) didn't perform as well as I thought he would," McGrath said.

"Hoggy (fellow seamer Matthew Hoggard [Images]) bowled pretty well and that helped them out, but they won't get away with relying on just two guys performing.

"If they do, we will win and win well."

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