Australia's batsmen hit or cleared the boundary 44 times as England experienced its familiar first-day Ashes belly-flop. But for all that, the main talking point was Hussain's decision to bowl first on a wicket that played as it looked ­ flat."Robert Craddock, Herald Sun, Melbourne"The England cricket team, a shell of the once great sides that made the Ashes series such a famous contest, has been buried by its own faint heart and bad fortune on the first day."Adrian McGregor, The Mercury, Hobart"The English are at it again, talking about the resurgence of their team. Yet theirs is a land of hope, not glory."Sydney Morning Herald. 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.

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.