大象传媒

Aussie fans do not go in for banners much, but when they do, they tend to be reasonably witty.

鈥淥ur Dad鈥檚 Army 鈥� Too Old, Too Slow, Too Damn Good鈥� was pretty much to the point.

As for , the ones who surged onto the bus I took from the city were in chipper mood in the morning.

One boasted to an Aussie: 鈥淚t鈥檚 better if you bat first anyway mate, then we鈥檒l win in three days.鈥�

When the bus carrying Freddie Flintoff and co arrived, plenty of England supporters were waiting for them.

But many of the faces they saw staring back at them wore nervous, apprehensive expressions. No waves or smiles for the supporters, though Flintoff himself looked at ease.

Playing with a black armband because his wife鈥檚 grandfather had recently died, the England skipper lost the toss.

But when he came on to bowl, he looked every inch the inspirational all-rounder we remembered from the 2005 series.

He took England鈥檚 first two wickets and was in the mood for more, but Ricky Ponting stole the mantle of day鈥檚 best player from under his nose.

When the ball got old, not even Flintoff could maintain his brilliance and Ponting, with a bit of help from his Aussie friends, took over.

Australia is a great country for pulling 鈥� and I鈥檓 not talking about picking up chicks.

No other Test nation offers such consistently hard, bouncy wickets, which invariably tempt fast bowlers to pitch short in the hope of catching a batsman unawares.

When that batsman is Ponting, however, the captain of the Australian cricket team, the tactic backfires with monotonous regularity.

Five times James Anderson, who had been a hero in England鈥檚 last away Test (in Mumbai), tried to bounce Ponting, and five times he pulled him effortlessly and majestically for four.

The shot also got the 31-year-old off the mark, when Steve Harmison was at his most timid, and Matthew Hoggard, who really should have known better, was another to suffer in the same way.

But although England鈥檚 bowlers, who like to 鈥渄o well as a unit鈥� failed to apply the necessary collective pressure to gain regular wickets, it did not help that the Barmy Army were being all quiet.

It was not entirely their fault. Their forces were fragmented in little pockets around the ground and the Australian fans鈥� constant noisy chatter was an effective defence against any impromptu singing.

Perhaps they could scarcely believe that Harmison, so brilliant on the first day of the 2005 series, could bowl so indifferently on one of the fastest tracks in the world.

It was remarkable, certainly, that the spinners did so much work. When Kevin Pietersen began his ninth over, some wag yelled: 鈥淐ome on Monty!鈥�

Presumably, the point was that after the long debate over whether to bowl Ashley Giles or Monty Panesar, with Pietersen doing so much work perhaps both could have played.

But Friday will be another day. Tonight it is time for England to ditch those nerves and on day two they must show their lion-hearted spirit once again.