Help is on the way as Mr Motivator wings in

Ronnie Irani could be a live model to demonstrate the precise definition of ebullience. His boundless enthusiasm has given him a lifelong lease on that cup which is never half empty: in his case it is rarely half full either, but brimming over.

Perhaps he is the only person in England who could say – and truly feel it – that something is still possible in Australia this winter apart from a good thumping for the tourists.

"We can improve even more," he said. "Cricket is such a game of fine points where anything can turn. As long as they don't get trampled on too hard, if they can survive this, hang on in there, they can kick on. I know it's a case of surviving now, but if they do that they will get something out of this winter, I really believe it."

That statement, just as things had taken a turn for the worse in Adelaide, typified the all-rounder's approach to cricket and to life. He gets up in the morning and immediately wonders what he can achieve in the day. The English cricketer is frequently abused for existing in a comfort zone. Irani lives in a world where anything is possible as long as you are prepared to work for it.

For instance, his preparations for Australia, to where he flies today as one of England's one-day specialists for the triangular tournament (and probably the World Cup afterwards), have embraced specific one-on-one coaching sessions for both batting and bowling. All self-respecting international all-rounders would possibly have done likewise.

Irani, however, has taken it a stage further by changing his body clock. For several weeks he has taken to rising at 3am, being in the gym by 5.30am, and being knackered by 6pm, purely to smooth the time difference. "Instead of taking a week or 10 days to feel right, I'm hoping it will take three or four days. And apart from that it means I've had the chance to put the girls to bed." (He and his wife have two small daughters).

Irani was recalled to England's one-day squad last summer after five years. It was his grip on that metaphorical cup which kept him going. Not that he is everybody's cup of tea, so to speak. His constantly positive view on life and his limitless self-belief have made colleagues squirm.

He knows how to work an audience if necessary. The press have lapped up recent admissions of natural remedies to help his damaged knee and the fact that he takes 20 vitamin pills a day. But he also spurns interviews if they interfere with his preparation.

The initial view on his return was greeted with scepticism in some quarters. It was not a coincidence, was it, that he played for Essex, as did Nasser Hussain, England's captain? As Hussain pointed out, even some of the other players in the squad were looking at him and saying: "Irani? He's full of it."

But the truth is that Irani had made an unanswerable case to the selectors by his performances for Essex, as both captain and all-rounder, and he has justified their faith. His Championship and one-day county figures were exemplary. In almost every England match since, he has done something right and he has done it for the team. In this second one-day coming he averages 30 with the bat and 27 with the ball, which is the right way round.

If he has allayed several doubts he knows he ain't seen nothin' yet. "I'm going to be tested as I've never been tested before on the biggest stage. Australia have been excellent. When I first played for England I didn't do great, I didn't even do good and I didn't do bad. I did OK. But now, given the chance, I should be able to perform."

Irani has had Graham Gooch as his personal batting coach for two hours every day. "Repeat, repeat, driving down the pitch, working with the gaps in the field."

Ian Pont, the former Essex bowler who is now an innovative coach, has worked with him on bowling, helping him specifically to gain more speed. Refinements in the position of his body at the point of delivery have helped to do that. In the Chelmsford indoor nets the other day Irani bowled at proper fast- medium. Now the action has to come as second nature to him in the middle. Pont has almost as much belief as Irani himself.

Irani does not deny that he has been propelled by his own conviction, but he has come to learn that it is hopeless (as both player and Essex captain) without skill.

The nearest thing he has to a guru is probably Frank Dick, the former athletics coach. "He has told me that you must never read and believe your own press, you must always read and believe your own mind." Cod psychology, perhaps, but it is a line which Irani treasures.

"I've worked my arse off even more lately. But what counts now is what happens on the pitch. The talking doesn't matter. When I was out of the team I never really thought about getting back in, just about bettering myself, practising with a purpose. Ambition is an old-fashioned word here. People still say, 'Oh God, he's really ambitious,' and hold up a crucifix as though you're the devil. Well, I'm ambitious and positive in everything I do and I thrive on being happy as a person."

If Irani can cling to all those virtues in the next three months he will have proved something as a cricketer and a man. So, just, might England. Otherwise we might grab that damned cup and do something unforgivable with it.