I think to blame England's length alone is a little simplistic. With the exception of Flintoff (and a time times Hoggard & Giles) every one of the England Bowlers tried to bowl too many miracle balls without sustaining any pressure by hitting the keepers gloves. I was impressed with Hoggard today... he worked hard on line for 5 overs before striking.
Too many pundits have been moaning about the kookaburra ball and the falt pitch - as long as I can remember in Australia they have used kookaburra balls and the pitch at the GABBA is typical... but Australia have never have any problems getting 20 wickets. England should stop looking at the ball and the pitch to do their work - part of a tour is testing yourself in different conditions. Australia get wickets by bowling consistently well and exploiting the good carry to fielders behind the batsman - Simple.

Dont know what to say...are England this bad or Australia this good?...as a long suffering Englishman living in Oz for over 30 years I don't know if I could stomach another Australian series victory.. never mind the ashes they have only lost one series (fortuitously won by the Windies in 1993/4)in 20 years at home. I am sick of the gloating. I dont believe England are this bad, I think the time for Churchillian oratory is in order, this is more than life or death this is about being able to hold your head up high in this country without shame. I can't believe the English press are so weak (bar Botham and a few other exceptions) come on boys show some fortitude show some gumption get behind England instead of criticising thats the easy option start supporting England like the ridiculous way the Aussie media supports their own... we know Harmison is short of a gallop it doesn't mean he is useless....let Craddock, Coward et al know about it...take a gamble back your heart. Even the ACB with their ridiculous ticketing system denying England supporters a decent and fair ticket allocation have blatantly shown their card...win to Australia at all costs.

The England team have to give support to Andrew Flintoff he deserves it. The whole of the Aust innings was built around the single minded determination of Ponting, forget the tail end humiliation, this is all about Pontings redemption, these boys need to understand that Aust does not just want to win they want to absolutely humiliate England as a cricketing nation... Australia has not been challenged in a long long time as much as England did last year. England will need to create cricketing history they are only going to do that if every wicket is sold dearly if every run is given in the field with outrage and in spite of absolute desperation......I for one have faith most of Australia's teamn are at the tail end of their careers...they want a quick kill so they can rest on their laurels...don't let it happen face every challenge.. don't give them easy wickets even the number 11, this team is used to it from their opposition particularly over here.

Australia have Warne, Ponting and an ageing team. Lets make them feel their age.

Not just two lengths (and if you are going to bowl short, it has to be a bouncer, not a long hop). But also two standards of bowling, when the ball is on a good length: Australia= grooved action, vertical seam, occasional seam movement= edge to slip. England= non-repetitive action, scrambled or slanted seam, no swing, no seam movement= no edges. Simple, seen it before. So England revert to short-of-a-length. Seems the result in 2005 should be largely credited to Troy Cooley.

I'm an Aussie & for the first time ever, I couldn't get a ticket to my own home city's Test match. I've accepted that I will have to watch the only cricket game here here this year on TV. We only get 1 test match per year & I've been supporting since the 80's. I love my cricket & enjoy having touring teams visit along with their supporters. I do not, however, appreciate supporters from elsewhere coming here & complaining about not being able to sit together & try to intimidate Australian players & supporters. It's called HOME GROUND advantage!!!It's also a cricket match not a football game. In Australia (where this series is being played) we WATCH the cricket & yell, scream & sing at a footy match. That's OUR culture. We are not watching the FA cup or supporting Manchester United. It's CRICKET. It's Brisbane. It's Australia. I love cricket. I hope English supporters are here for the same/right reason - to support their team & WATCH great sport. You are welcome because you do bring a new way of supporting, but at the same time, you are in our country & we do things as we always have done. & if you want to talk history & culture, just ask our indigenous/traditional land holders. They have been here a LOT longer than most of the UK.

PS I'm a trumpet player & have never been aloud to bring my horn to a game at the Gabba.
It's just not cricket!!

PPS The next Englishman to wax lyrical about Australia having no history or culture needs to look our Indigenous folk in the eye & - Please Explain!!

England's ploys are hardly surprising given that the bowling coach is Kevin Shine. The man was a wayward, undisciplined fast bowler who was all aggression and zero subtlety. Not only this, but his coaching methods seem to mirror it. When I went to have a bowl in the nets at Somerset 3 summers back and Shine was head coach, he appeared to be more interested in showing his charges how fast he could still bowl than actually doing any coaching. He hit John Francis on the shoulder with one of a succession of bouncers and appeared to be highly pleased with himself. He may have done all the relevant coaching courses, but he is not much of a thinker and never has been. Harmison's tactics are probably reflective of Shine's attitude towards fast bowling. Not only that, he seems to have completely lost his technique under Shine's charge. People continue to underestimate how important Troy Cooley was in England's last Ashes victory and just how much he can offer Australia's young quicks since returning home.

serious problems list
1 why did Giles only bowl a handful of overs, is he seriously an allrounder now ?, surely he needs to bowl much more to take the pressure of Flintoff

2 fletcher, where do I start, he should be taken out, whipped and sent back to Africa; an MBE for 2 mths work, this degrades the title. He has been sitting on his ill deserved rewards. His selection of Giles and Jones is unforgiveable.

3Harmison, I would not drop him for the next test, he is still their best chance, drop Anderson and draft in Panesar

4 Collingwood, how is this guy labelled and allrounder, how many overs does he bowl ?. Surely the most overated player at the GABBA. Drop him, draft in Key or Ramprakash, both have been in form

5 Flintoff, this guy has the heart of horse, phenomenal !, but I fear he will be injured before Melbourne

It isnt that Australia is "that good" or that England is "that bad". Talent exists on both teams.

One thing that touring teams to Australia *always* seem to do is forget that pitches are different in that part of the world.

Balls bounce and carry more so a fuller length is required - bowlers have to be on their game the whole time because one false action finds the ball sitting up short begging to be pulled or cut by home grown batsmen who practised those shots in the womb.

The second is the weather. Again - basic hydration and replacement of lost salts, etc... compare the amount Aussies drink in the field to what England players will drink.

Aussie players know their conditions and know how to exploit them - they also know that experience says that it takes 2 - 3 games to get used to playing in Aus.

I would love to see another thrilling contest, as an Aussie in london on the 5th day of the Oval test i want cricket to benefit from a genuine competition... but England have to rise to the plate rather than expect Australia to fall back to mediocrity.

As an 18 year old Aussie who admittedly has moderate to little knowledge of cricketing history prior to Australia's domination from 1990-onward, it's been blatantly obvious that England has failed miserably to adapt to the conditons while Australia has suitably thrived. For starters, the ball is getting whacked around on a harder pitch and a harder outfield, and they haven't handled it. Simple things like the temperature, the sunlight, the humidity... admittedly England have been in the field for a long time but they have been struggling since day one. As for the length of their bowling, clearly someone has got the idea in their head that if it's not swinging, you pitch it anywhere between 3/4 and short lengths... if anything this is a lack of knowledge of how to use Australian pitches, combined with some poor form (Harmison).

In the 2005 Ashes, the first Test was won convincingly by Australia in a way that many thought would set the tone for the series. There was no shaky start, there was no getting accustomed to the conditions... it just happened. If England are to wait until conditons suit them in this series, they will have to wait until the 5th Test in Sydney... and by that time, Australia will have been up 4-0.

KP, I am stunned by your attitude-if you hate Australia and Australians so much- why are you still here?

England would have had a tough enough time in Australia without key injuries to Vaughan and Simon Jones; but we have no chance of retaining the Ashes unless we pick our strongest team from those available. This would mean choosing specialist experts: Strauss (not Flintoff) as Captain, Read behind the stumps, and Panesar as spinner.

The side currently playing were implicitly picked to bat-out a draw in Brisbane. Geraint Jones will on average cost England a lot of runs in dropped catches/ missed stumpings/ and the inability to stand-up to the wicket for Hoggard's medium pace; Giles is less economical than Panesar and takes fewer wickets. Let's see whether their slightly-better abilities with the bat make any make any significant difference to the time spent before England are defeated....

Hey KP! Good for you in calling for your extremely "fair weather friend media" to get behind your boys. I sincerely hope they do.

However, in terms of your criticism of the "ACB's (sic) rediculous ticketing system denying England supporters a decent and fair ticket allocation." Would you like to comment on the unprecedented poor ticketing allocation granted to Australian supporters during the 2005 series in England? I guess you wouldn't. The fact is that England supporters have been allocated a substantially higher percentage of tickets to the games in Australia than was afforded to Australian supporters in England last year. People in glass houses! So why don't you quit your whinging about seats and enjoy the cricket as a contest. By the way, keep sticking it to the English media as well. There's a good chap!

Sigh. Still people harp on about the age of the Australian team.

It is getting especially tiresome. I'm sure everyone will still say Warne is too old when he takes another 30 wickets this series.

Underestimate them at your peril.

Is McGrath still over the hill then? I've spent the last few weeks listening to idiots who really thought he was finished and that England's batsmen would smear him all over the Gabba. He's arguably the greatest fast bowler ever, and he proves it again and again and again. For those who doubted him, now you can watch as he takes 25+ wickets for the series and returns the urn to Australia.

Its funny how all the bleating starts only two days into an Ashes campaign.Anything could happen from here, who knows? I love the fact that when England doesnt perform to standard, the same old complaints surface. Everybody is against them and even the poor old Barmy Army are being victimised. Sitting near the Barmy Army all day with that bugler is annoying beyond belief and after having seen first hand, several members abusing a young Australian fan who was about 7 years old with language that would make a sailor blush, i was ecstatic that the authorities want everybody to enjoy the cricket, not just the Barmy Army. Dont like it-tough. Its about the game and not just one group of fans whose sole purpose is too get drunk and annoy all those around them. Dont believe me? Try sitting next to the Australian equivalent-the fanatics, thats annoying as well. When a song was sung about whingeing poms, the Barmy Army booed and wanted to protest. What a laugh! We endure those convict songs for eight hours a day. The poor boys!Maybe they should take their bat and ball and go home.
You need to face the fact that its dificult to win in someone else's country. England could still win this series. However you would expect all the little things to go Australias way just as they went Englands way at home.Criticising the Australian press is laughable. Have you ever read your own papers? Do they actually follow England or are they Australian?They give your own boys a pasting, they are worse than our own by miles!
Remember that this same old man Glen McGrath missed vital tests in England that would have virtually gauranteed that Australia won another series.It was good for the game that England won as Australia had dominated for too long, as much as i hate to admit it. I am also glad to see Ian Botham shooting his mouth off about Australias age as wont he look silly if Australia manage to win? The problem was that England were so happy to beat Australia, they reverted to their old habits and the results they produced reflected that. They need to revert back to what they were doing before and rely hevily on their captain and pietersen. This series is a long way from over but its worth it already just to see the sad looks on the English players faces, the drubbing they are recieving from their own press and the panic of thier fans. England will bounce back. This will be a war of attrition that is won by whoever keeps their nerve and sticks to a game plan. There is a long way to go.

The reason half the barmy army is seperated is that half of them got their tickets through the "Australian cricket family", so half of them are in Aussie seats. The other half, that got their tickets the proper way, are all together.