My summation. The pitch (and the dull kookaburra ball) is going to be perfect for two days, then take spin. The best England can hope for is a draw.

However. I want some of the sensationalist commentators to stop for a moment and actually think. Langer's innings was weak. Really weak. He swung the bat and edged his way to a magnificently inept 82. The shot he got out to? A technical flaw. This is a well known one: sliding the bat under a square cut, too much bottom hand. Langer poses no threat. And England's bowling was pretty poor other than Flintoff.

Hayden and Martyn? They look very much like bunnies. Hayden is going to receive several balls in over after over which were as innocuous as the one which squared him up. And he was totally boxed up by England's bad bowling until then. Not impressive. Martyn likewise.

No one at all doubts that Ponting and Hussey are superb and are certainly enough to win the Ashes for Australia in the batting department. But on the evidence so far Langer Martyn and Hayden will be bunnies all series... And if you really don't believe me - go back and watch Langer's innings. All of the scoring shots. Of the boundaries, maybe two of them were genuine hits in the middle of the bat.

Also, Fletcher really has messed up in not picking Panesar. If England do score well on this benign pitch it will not have been because of the selection of Giles. And if it spins, Giles won't master warne.

mahmood would have got more out of this pitch than anderson,
england should have given a chance to monty but we just have to see how england respond today,
i reckon strauss,kp and bell are the keys for eng;and in this match
i just hope england dont play 2 spinners in this series and also they play mahmood in the next match as he is a different test bowler than a odi bowler

I agree with you bob except for the statement "Langer poses no threat." People having saying for many years that Langer is the weak link in the opening partnership, he's tto defensive, he's tto attacking, he plays and misses, he hits streaky boundaries. The numbers though is were it will hurt England. It doesn't matter how he makes the runs, he makes more than Hayden and apart from two years or so when Hayden was considered by some to be the best in the world, always has.

You may be right that Langer was a bunny but England failed to take advantage of that completely. The one or two bouncers he recieved, he could not handle. Why didn't England bowl more? The slips positioning was pretty strange as well. With a guy getting those edges why wouldn't you put more in the cordon? At the end of the day Langer scored 82 because England were not good enough to get his wicket.

I think England have far more problems with their bowling line up than Australia do with their top order. At least Australia have players that can come into the team and most probably get runs. England don't seem to have any good pacemen to replace Harmison and Hoggard. Let's face it England are great bowlers when the ball is swinging but it doesn't swing that much in Australia.

I am an Australian and hope that this season is competitve like the last one but i just can't see England getting twenty wickets. Perhaps if the ball swings and Panesar plays they may have a shot. However I do believe England have the batsmen to get enough runs just not the bowling attack.

I love to have a team of bunnies that average over 45 after playing 100 tests (including a number against a once mighty Windies attack including Ambrose, Walsh and Bishop), have scored 22 centuries. Sure Langer best days are behind but to call him a bunny is rich indeed. I guess you have missed most of KP's innings where luck is an intregral part of his success.

Well, Australia have definitely won all 4 sessions so far. Yes, Englands bowling has been weak. (like startled deer in the headlights). England need to win the 2 remaining sessions of the day, if for nothing more than bolstering confidence.

I think we'll know more about the England team after their first innings. It will be interesting to see how the Aussie pace boys do on this track. If England bat like the opening day of Edgbaston last time then I think they can get close to the Aussie score (granted I’m talking when the score is 427/4 @ lunch on the 2nd day). However the 4th inning could b a completely different kettle of fish.

I do agree with Simon though. On this display I can't c how England are going to take 20 wickets, and lets face it…that is what won them the series last time.

Now about cloning that Flintoff fella…

Langer- a bunny? Seriously guys, how can you honestly call any of Australia's top 7 bunnies. I suggest you llok at the numbers, look at the history, and seriously look at the inept, grade-cricket level bowling attack England have at the moment.

Harmison's shocking performance to date is a massive, massive blow to England. A strong performance from him was ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL for England to do well in this series. Unless he has a complete turnaround over the rest of this match I'll hazard a guess that his tour will be over and Mahmood will have to be brought in. One cannot underestimate how damaging Harmison's meltdown is. Can he pick himself up from here? Sorry but he doesnt strike me as the kind of guy that can shrug this off. I fear this series may have already been decided.

Poor management by Fletcher - Monty should have played. Giles was terrible - there was no pressure at all or any turn. At least KP span it past the bat a couple of times. Also, Mahmood was always going to be a better pick than Anderson on a fast Gabba track.
As for Flintoff's captaincy - one word...crap.
Poor choice of bowlers first up (he didn't bowl himself until the 16th over),then bowling Bell, and then the awful 2nd new ball, when he seemed to be encouraging Anderson to reach his century (or runs conceded). A new manager and a new captain please...

Big calls from Bob!! Guess we didn't have too much to worry about with all that rubbish being bowled (other than Andrew Flintoff). Way to waste the new ball on a fast bouncy pitch England. However, I think we see a fair few bigger bunnies wearing blue helmets this summer.....

Langer, Martyn and Hayden bunnies? These are three batsmen around who Australia have built numerous victories - including numerous Ashes victories. Anyone who suggests they are bunnies has a lack of historical knowledge. All three had poor 2005 Ashes, but throughout their careers(Langer, Hayden, Martyn), many English batsman have come and gone from the side - they are the true bunnies. One bad series (2005) does not make a bad career!!!

Gee, I wonder what Bob is thinking today?? Who was 'inept'? Who could NOT play on a pitch the Australians so easily navigated after another totally 'inept' English bowling performance? As for 'bunnies'...think we are definitely going to see far more 'bunnies' that wear blue helmets & have three lions over their hearts. Hmmm Bob, JL not so inept is he? More like dogged, unfashionable, but as compared with your 'inept' team, he gets the job done!!!