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So... three days in and the England performance so far is lacklustre batting, toothless bowling and slack fielding. So much for all the hype.

Great article. However, if a batsman is out- even if not given by a clueless umpire- his runs cannot be considered 'chanceless'.
England in real trouble and I fear for the 1st session.

It must be remembered this really wasn't a bad bowling performance for the most part. Anderson bowled beautifully, and the fact remains that it would really help if a batsmen was given out when he was out.

Nothing more frustrating- Tom, your idea is a good one, and so is Aggers'- unlimited referrals, but a 5 run penalty if the original decision is correct.
Incredible that even in an age of technology being available in 5 seconds the wrong decisions are still being made. Just as bad as football with goal line technology.

You have admit that Haddin and Hussey certainly took their irish charm pills before the start of play, Hussey was absolutely plumb LBW and not given, Haddin played and missed so many times it was like watching a magic show... unbelieveable...

The only thing that is likely to save england now is that the australia haven't picked a particularly threatening spinner... and that might come back to haunt them over the next couple of days... I can't see the quicks doing much damage - famous last words!

so the excuses start already, seems some people forgot the dodgy decisions against australia last ashes series. Bottom line is Haddin and hussey batted well, lets see what tomorrow brings

Right with your comments Rasher though from well before this Test I was concerned that England would be exposed, as they have been, virtually as descibed by you. In addition to ability and experience, the players do not have the determination, fitness and grit of the Aussies. Australia must surely win and falling behind at the first hurdle will scar the England players emotionally as well as making the chance of a come back down the track impossible. They had been hyped into beleving that they were players, and a team, that were World Beaters - you don't get near that unless/until you beat the Aussies in Australia. Here we go again....

Do England have an outstanding strike bowler? No.

Do you look at any English batsmen and think ' If he gets in he could be there all day- a la Ponting or Hussey' No.

Can you honestly see England winning any Test, bar Austrailian failure? No.

Do Sky and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ have a self interest in hyping the series up? Yes.

Enough said.

We have been really unlucky so far this series. Hussey inches away from being caught first ball, the referred lbw last night must have been a millimeter outside leg stump, the two noises on the next shout and then Haddin slicing one just short of Pietersen. On another day even Cook might have caught Haddin's skyer of Collingwood but that is more debateable...

Anderson and Broad beat the bat numerous other times. It is strange to read of Broad's performance as inconsistent - he was always a threat and just had no luck at all.

What comes around goes around though - I'm hoping for rain!

Australia have had so much luck in this test it's almost unbelievable, even more than England had in the last series. That's the way it goes but if the luck had gone England's way the Australians wouldn't have got 200.

To knock England for their performance is ridiculous they bowled very well without any luck and look like losing a test match that the Australians always win.

England are a superior team to Australia and in the next few tests I think they will show that.

Yea, England arn't getting a grilling by any means. We could have had Australia out for 300 yesterday if things had gone our way.

Got through that spell yesterday without losing any wickets so if we get through the first 10 overs tomorrow without losing a wicket we'll be in good shape.

I'm fed up with all the doom merchants on here. Let's face it, there has not been much between the two teams despite Australia's massive first innings lead. Apart from Siddle, the Australian strike bowlers are pretty ordinary. And take away the contributions of Hussey and Haddin and our bowlers were all over the remainder of their batting lineup. Two positive things we should take into account. Hussey and Haddin were dead lucky to survive the first hour today. And our batting order now know what they have to do. One thing worries me. Swanny's run of form appears to have ended. Apart from that and notwithstanding the fact that we will probably lose this Test, I am optimistic. This England team are a good deal more resilient than the 2006 lot.

England were a bit unlucky - especially Anderson - in the first hour. If they had struck then the day would have been very different. But hats off to Hussey and Haddin for a magnificent partnership.

England now need to show plenty of the resilience that they have demonstrated since Andy Flower came to the helm and maybe even some of the bravado of Tony Greig at the same ground in 1974.

The Hussey & Haddin Show - Brisbane, Day Three

Brisbane Hero: Tony Greig

C`mon England dont embarrass us again its gettin a little tedious! Whats it take to find 11 talented players who consistently play to the best of their abilities.

Bigbaldboab....I have one thing to say to you....who has the ashes...England...who will retain them ....England...enough said

Well, well!

Defeat now stares England head on! They did not get the early breakthrough yesterday.

AUstralia, with a solid middle-order effort, are firmly in the driver seat, at this stage, thereby emphasising how difficult it is to beat them at home!

The pre-series talk about an England landslide this Ashes might have been exaggerated self-confidence or trash-talking hype. But, there is still a long way to go!

We shall see!

Bowlers did an OK job on the whole, but 260 is not a par score. If you choose to bat first on an aussie wicket you need 400+. 260 is what you get with a duke ball in leeds in may, not the gabba on a hot day against a decent but not totally awesome aussie attack. 360 would have been close to it (still not enough) which is why we need 6 batters. I said it before the series WE DONT SCORE ENOUGH RUNS. We just havent got the mentality for it. Well Cook and colly have but havent really got the talent.

If I was an england fan out there I'd be booking excursions for monday because it will be all over by close tonight.

Why is there no discussion board open in the just concluded W.I./SL series. Is this a fixation with only what goes on Down Under or a case of sports chauvinism?

One of the best articals I have ever read , well done.

thats a bit of a downbeat article for you tom, i am surprised. i guess all that toiling in the heat got to you too.

3 things can happen from here;

> england lose by an innings and the wheels begin to fall off
> we get beat but bat better in 2nd innings and take down 5 aussie wickets or so, so it isnt a thrashing we usually get at woolloongabba
> we get out with a draw after doing some grinding down of our own!

glad to see andy flower is on the mend, best of health to him.

Well done Lord Cricket! Hats off despite the dodgy LBW, that was a big innings from a man under pressure for his place. As always the Aussies are most dangerous with backs to the wall.
However, these 2 sides are very evenly matched. I hope we will see better batting 2nd time round from England, even so they will struggle to save this game but still Finn's performance has shown he can be a game changer, Anderson has bowled very well (as often for little reward) and Swann will get his length right - you would be a brave man to bet against him getting a few in the 2nd innings (assuming England can get a lead!).

Well, what a day's play. :)

Given that Hussey, of all the players in recent years, has been the one most OUT when IN time and again, prior to the DRS, I'm not going to begrudge him one umpiring screw-up.

Also, as the DRS is there to correct such howlers and England rushed through both of their referral chances with giddy eagerness questioning borderline decisions...and failing...it's their own fault.

They failed to play these aces up their sleeve at the right time and it cost them. Bad luck. As always, getting stuck on a batsman getting a lucky break is profitless, as it goes against them often enough too.

Anderson did bowl superbly and deserved to take wickets, but Hussey and Haddin had the resolve and self-control lacking from the English batting order first time around to last them out.

They earned every run and ground it out in classic test match fashion. They deserve all the plaudits and showed up all that pre-series self-indulgent waffle that the English players and the media had been spraying about.

Still two very evenly matched sides (only the english fans are surprised about this reality check lol) and a long way to go in the series.

But I won't be surprised if Australia don't bat again at the Gabba this match.

;)

It's not been that bad for England; plenty of the batsmen looked in good touch, they've actually bowled quite well, and plenty of the Australian batsmen have looked suspect, with nobody really promising available to replace them. England still favourites to retain the Ashes for mine.

Debatable...

...given that one Australian batting patnership in their first innings scored more than all the English batsmen combined you still want to interpret events to view England as clearly superior...rather than admit the closeness of the teams?

Oh forget it. All the best. Clearly the early signs are a white wash to England, overpowering the pub team that is Aus at home. lol.

Why the surprise about England's performance? The Australian's were never going to be a pushover at home. What's surprising is that everybody seems to have expected England to give Australia a 5-0 spanking on their own turf!

Not sure how people on here can say that Australia has had a mountain of luck and can compare the woeful umpiring last time out to ONE decision.

Lets check the facts:

Before going into the series both teams, sets of commentators and fans KNEW that snicko cannot be used in referrals. Even then it was the smallest of noises and Hotspot did not show anything. (Clarkes referral) Waste by Strauss!

The referral by Hussey came up with the correct decision. Fact, simple and end of story. It pitched outside leg.

Umpires for years have given people out having heard 2 noises and the fact is that Dar is prob the best Ump in the world at the moment and apart from 2 very close calls he has got everything spot on in this test.

Sure the England bowlers had a great 1st hour, but the fact is that as good as they bowled and the fact Haddin and Hussey just kept missing the edge. At the end of the day they did miss the edge so it can't be classed as a chance.

The fact is that England threw away too many of their wickets, fielded poorly, made wrong choices and tired out too quickly. The Aussies on the other hand rode their luck and made England pay with some sublime at times batting from Haddin and Hussey.

I am not some arrogant Aussie who is going to come out and say we are all over you and will beat you easily, but having had to put up with alot of big talk leading into this serious I will reiterate that this will be a very close series which could go either way. First blood Australia, but a long way to go.

Reviewing the DRS:

If the premise to use the DRS is to get the decisions correct, then the current system needs to be amended to allow for that...where, for example, the third umpire can intervene to reverse an error.

Clearly, there needs to me improvement to the current system!

So, ICC, what are your thoughts?

Does anyone else think England were arrogant with their batting? I concede the opposite with their bowling, where they stuck manfully to the task without any luck whatsoever. It struck me watching live in Canada (yes, in Canada!) that Strauss was irresponsible playing that shot, the third ball of the Ashes. He could easily have let it go and, one hopes go on from their - he didn't try it in the second innings did he? It was as if the batsmen were looking to get after the bowlers too much, as if they wanted to make a statement and impose themselves on the Aussies instead of being a bit more circumspect. If a few had batted like Cooke or Haddin we might not be in quite such a predicament. Just a thought!

England haven't lost yet. As Austrailia showed you need one big partnership to build an innings around so I hope England can get a good start and then take the game to Austrailia. Even if they end up losing I feel they have shown enough fight in this match to suggest that the series will not be as one sided as the last few ashes series in Austrailia. I hope so anyway.
All credit to Hussey and Haddin with how they played. Their batting was brilliant to watch, even if it wasn't pleasant to see as an Englishman. Anderson will have better luck later in the series and will bag a load of wickets so there is plenty of hope for England to hold on to.
This test has been brilliant to watch and a great example of why test cricket will always be the ultimate challenge of a batsman and bowler. Lets hope the next two days remain as hard fought as the first 3.

Im sorry if this has been mentioned before but.......

Doesnt Tom Fordyce look like Kevin Pieterson's long lost twin!

Have to say this article seems a little one-eyed. To say the Aussies progressed almost chanceless is pure drivel. Hussey could've been out twice in the opening hour, Anderson had him on toast. Haddin flashed wildly at the ball early and Anderson and Broad beat the bat repeatedly. Had things gone a little differently Australia could've been all out by lunchtime.

Admittedly, having ridden their luck early on Hussey and Haddin started playing really well, and then England just weren't aggressive or attacking enough to get them out. It speaks volumes both of the batsmen's characters, and of England's misfortune that Australia were bailed out from a very iffy 143-5, by two batsman producing probably their best ever test innings' in tandem when it really mattered. Even then there were still chances.

Australia will be favourites now for this one, but in my opinion all three results are still possible. England are more than capable of posting 450 on this pitch, and Australia are quite capable of collapsing.

Good to look back at this article one day later and reconsider what you said about mental toughness, England having to look again at their plans, etc. What a difference a day makes. And it's that difference that makes test cricket the best sport in the world despite what the cynical press expect: seasoned journos like yourself basically writing England off, while they totally pull it out of the bag, just as Hussey did the day before.

By the way, when that happens, it often shows up all the hyperbole used to back up the original "Australia are great, England have much to learn" theory - and is another example of how journalists ignore the facts if they don't fit the theory. This is a case in point. The facts that didn't fit, as any serious cricket fan knows, are that a) Hussey would have been out first ball for a duck if a risky dab outside off had carried two inches further, so he wasn't in control, and b) he should have been out on 85 but Dar - an otherwise almost perfect ump - made his one bad call, presumably because he thought Hussey got bat on it. So it calling it a chanceless innings may be technically correct (ie, England had no chance on either) but is misleading.

Australia had their luck on Saturday and England had their luck today
So they are both even in terms of luck

I don't understand why the ICC cannot increase the number of reviews to 4 to 5 reviews per innings for both sides. This will reduce the wrong mistakes

Very good batting by England today and I expect this test match to end as a draw

Fantastic performance from England's batsmen to follow their unlucky bowling performance. In less than one days play they have turned probable defeat into certain safety, they are now the only team that can possibly win this, even though that is very unlikely.