Torture starts instantly for inept England

Australia 364-2 v England

At 9.30am yesterday here in Brisbane the Australian captain, Steve Waugh, tossed a coin in the air. His opposite number, Nasser Hussain, called correctly and England decided to bowl first. Little drama so far, although there were a few gasps of "no" from some wily former players now in the commentary box.

Yes, it was hot and the sun was out, but we had to wait and see if he had got it wrong. It was too early to pass judgement. After all this was the first day of a Test. Rumour had it that Australia would have preferred to bowl themselves and if there was to be any help in the pitch for the quicker bowlers, then this was the time it would show itself.

However, 364 runs and only two wickets later, it was plain that the England captain had made a huge mistake. What was he thinking of was the question being asked in every corner of the ground well before the close of play.

Hussain will admit that he made the wrong decision somewhere along the line. He has to, the pitch did not offer any assistance at any time of the day. But he was not helped by his bowlers, who showed little control, and his fielders who dropped, fumbled and dived over the ball on a regular basis. By tea, Australia had made a complete mockery of England's talk about being a different side to the one they last encountered.

On yesterday's showing this was not, to quote Hussain "the same old England who turn up and play the same old cricket as in the past against Australia and go home 4-1 losers". They were worse. From the mis-field by Michael Vaughan that set the scoreboard rolling on the second ball of the day England were on the back foot. For those Australians already in the ground – in a record first day crowd of 28,348 at the Gabba – expecting a challenge, this was the same old England.

"We did not play good cricket today," said Duncan Fletcher, the England coach. "The first session was important, especially if your captain puts a side in to bat. With the ball we did not achieve the discipline you must maintain and our fielding wasn't too good."

And accepting his part in the decision to bowl first, Fletcher said: "The toss was a very difficult decision to make. It was a joint decision. We thought at the time it looked a little bit green and there might be something in it for our inexperienced bowlers, but the wicket did less than we hoped for."

Hussain possibly bowled for other reasons, which he is not likely to admit to, because they suggest negativity as well as concerns about the opposition. At the start of a Test series all players are under pressure and, against a good side, the easier option is to go out as a team because then such tension is shared. Sending two batsmen out into the arena with 11 Aussies and a 25,000 crowd at their throat seems cruel. At this level, though, they have to be able to cope with such demands and England's batsmen have done so in recent times.

Bowling first has not been England's style when playing their best cricket. The batting has been their strength and the successful method has been to win the toss, bat, get a big score and then put the opposition under pressure. Once achieving that, they then whittle them down.

Hussain did not back his batsmen yesterday and such a cautious approach backfired in the most numbing way against a side who take pride in going out and grabbing hold of the game. In bowling first, England gave Australia the chance to take the initiative and that is just what they did through two magnificent innings from Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting.

Although Hayden ended the day on 186 not out, Ponting's century was more pleasing to watch because it was chanceless and classy. Coming in after Simon Jones had shaved the outside edge of Justin Langer's bat to take his first Ashes wicket with only his ninth ball, the diminutive Tasmanian looked in control from the moment he took guard.

The 27-year-old was watchful to start with against Jones, who was bowling at around 90mph until that horrific knee injury finished his tour. Australia were in total control before this deflating setback but then, showing the ruthless streak that great sides possess, they mercilessly hammered on.

Ponting has always been a good puller and cutter, but there have been suggestions that he is susceptible when driving the ball. This time, though, his driving down the ground was outstanding and two huge straight sixes in consecutive balls off Ashley Giles made his bat look the size of a punchbag as it came down.

He and Hayden flogged England's inept bowling for 272 runs in 61 overs before Ponting was bowled of his pads by Giles. Hayden, meanwhile, was riding his luck. He was dropped three times between 102 and 149. Matthew Hoggard at mid-off and Michael Vaughan at deep cover point shelled sitters while Robert Key nearly held on to a diving one-handed effort.

Hayden is an intimidating batsman to bowl at. Built like a second-row forward, the 31-year-old left hander is a brute of a man. He is hard to bowl at because he is always trying to get forward and drive yet he is quick enough to rock on to the back foot and pull or hook anything short.

By using his feet he was not afraid to come down the wicket to the spinners and Giles will want danger money by the end of the series if he keeps charging down the pitch and hitting the ball back at him. Indeed, he brought up his second hundred at his home ground and his first against England by smashing a Giles full toss through extra cover for four.

"This was a great day," Hayden said. "It was important that we gained the momentum having been put in to bat. The pitch looked like it was going to do more than it did but the Gabba is a ruthless place if you are not in control of your line and length."

Gabba scoreboard

First day of five; England won toss

AUSTRALIA ­ First innings

J L Langer c Stewart b Jones 32

71min, 38 balls, 6 fours

M L Hayden not out 186

384min, 254 balls, 23 fours, 2 sixes

R T Ponting b Giles 123

255min, 196 balls, 12 fours, 2 sixes

D R Martyn not out 9

56min, 56 balls, 1 four

Extras (b1,lb8,w1,nb4) 14

Total (2wkts, 384min, 90 overs) 364

Fall: 1-67 (Langer), 2-339 (Ponting).

To bat: *S R Waugh, D S Lehmann, ÝA C Gilchrist, S K Warne, A J Bichel, J N Gillespie, G D McGrath.

Bowling: Caddick 19-3-71-0 (nb1) (6-1-24-0, 3-0-20-0, 3-0-10-0, 3-0-15-0, 4-2-2-0); Hoggard 22-2-86-0 (w1) (6-0-26-0, 2-0-9-0, 5-0-17-0, 5-2-21-0, 4-0-13-0); Jones 7-0-32-1 (one spell); White 16-3-67-0 (nb3) (1-0-9-0, 5-0-20-0, 5-0-21-0, 5-3-17-0); Giles 24-3-87-1 (20-3-77-0, 4-0-10-1), Butcher 2-0-12-0 (one spell).

Progress: First day: 50: 53min, 11.3 overs. 100:105min, 21.3 overs. Lunch: 125-1 (Hayden 61, Ponting 24) 25 overs. 150: 159min, 33.1 overs. 200: 202min, 44.2 overs. Tea: 233-1 (Hayden 110, Ponting 82) 55 overs. 250: 254min, 58.2 overs. 300: 294min, 69 overs. New ball taken after 82 overs at 346-2. 350: 366min, 85.2 overs. Hayden 50: 112min, 70 balls, 7 fours. 100: 194min, 125 balls, 13 fours. 150: 292min, 203 balls, 20 fours, 1 six. Ponting 50: 129min, 96 balls, 5 fours, 1 six. 100: 193min, 158 balls, 10 fours, 2 sixes.

ENGLAND: M E Trescothick, M P Vaughan, M A Butcher, *N Hussain, J P Crawley, ÝA J Stewart, C White, A F Giles, A R Caddick, S P Jones, M J Hoggard.

Umpires: S A Bucknor and R E Koertzen.

TV Replay Umpire: S J A Taufel.

Match referee: Wasim Raja.

First Day, First Test: How Ashes Series Have Been Shaped By The Opening Salvos

1946 (Brisbane) Day One: 292-2. Result: Australia won by an innings and 332 runs. Australia went on to win series 3-0

1950 (Brisbane) Day One: Australia 228. Result: Australia won by 70 runs. Australia went on to win series 4-1

1954 (Brisbane) Day One: Australia 208-2. Result: Australia won by an innings and 154 runs. England went on to win series 3-1

1958 (Brisbane) Day One: England 134, Australia 8-0. Result: Australia won by 8 wickets. Australia went on to win series 4-0

1962 (Brisbane) Day One: Australia 321-7. Result: Match drawn. Series drawn 1-1.

1965 (Brisbane) Day One: Australia 79-1. Result: Match drawn. Series drawn 1-1

1970 (Brisbane) Day One: Australia 308-2. Result: Match Drawn. England went on to win series 2-0

1974 (Brisbane) Day One: Australia 219-6. Result: Match drawn. Australia went on to win series 4-1

1978 (Brisbane) Day One: Australia 116; England 60-2. Result: England won by 7 wickets. England went on to win series 5-1

1979 (Perth) Day One: Australia 232-8. Result: Australia won by 138 runs. Australia went on to win series 3-0

1982 (Perth) Day One: England 242-4. Result: Match Drawn. Australia went on to win series 2-1

1986 (Brisbane) Day One: England 198-2. Result: England won by 7 wickets. England went on to win series 2-1

1990 (Brisbane) Day One: England 194; Australia 16-0. Result: Australia won by 10 wickets. Australia went on to win series 3-0

1994 (Brisbane) Day One: Australia 329-4. Result: Australia won by 184 runs. Australia went on to win series 3-1

1998 (Brisbane) Day One: Australia 246-5. Result: Match drawn. Australia went on to win series 3-1