Australia's pace attack off to slow start as Gabba fails to live up to reputation | Adam Collins

Opening days are overrated. In an Ashes context, we happily forget that they are rarely oracular but it doesn’t stop us retrofitting them to sound as though they were. For every Nasser Insane there is an Edgbaston 1997, and ample in between. This Gabba first foray was one of the latter, with all pre-series dreams still intact. The Gabbatoir it wasn’t. Yet.

This time around, scrutiny on these first exchanges elevated because, so went the script, Australia were going to maim their opposition at the first available opportunity. It was to be Bodyline revisited, the local tabloid splashed, fuelled by Shane Warne and the usual suspects.

Had legendary curator Kevin Mitchell been listened to a bit more carefully or history observed (or Brisbane’s weather been glimpsed at over the last month) it should have been obvious it was never going to be that. Moisture was left in the pitch by design, Mitchell foreshadowed, meaning vicious bounce was never going to be instant.

First balls of Ashes series carry their own mystique, due in recent times to Steve Harmison and Michael Slater – their moments so well known that they don’t need detailing beyond their names. But when Mitchell Starc unfurled to Alastair Cook at 10am, it was a limp loosener. “That’s the most underwhelming first ball I’ve ever seen” joked Graeme Swann.

For England, it was clear as soon as they saw the shine off the ball that this was more comparable to the green pastures of their homeland than the Gabba caricature.

The circumstances elevated Nathan Lyon, rather than the Starc-Cummins-Hazlewood triumvirate, to the hosts’ most likely until deep into the day. Where the quicks penetrated the 150kph barrier only twice, it was the off-breaker who did far more damage when keeping his pace below 90kph. None of the wickets to fall were to his bowling (although he did execute a magnificent run out to see off James Vince), but his accuracy was immense and turn acute.

Quantifying that, CricViz analytics showed that 88.5% of Lyon’s deliveries turned more than 4.5 degrees, compared to 17.1% for other finger spinners on opening days in Brisbane. He landed in the shoebox of both a good line and length with nearly half his deliveries, preventing England’s batsmen the chance to advance and attack the way they surely must have wanted to following Lyon’s pre-game frolic in the media.

After play, Pat Cummins argued that on another day the off-spinner would be sitting there with a big bag next to his name. “I said to him he should say something before every game the way he bowled,” he said. “He’s one of those guys who loves getting into the contest. The way he bowled in the subcontinent he was our best bowler and he’s one of the best in the world. I don’t know how he doesn’t have six-for [today], let alone one.”

Cummins’ first performance as an Australian Test player was a long time coming, six years this week since he debuted as a teen. He relished the responsibility to break up Vince and Mark Stoneman’s controlled union, doing so when they had put on 143 in a partnership that began when the score was two, after Starc won that initial breakthrough with early swing. Cummins burst through Stoneman’s gate from around the wicket with an old-ball beauty.

After tea, his delivery to get Joe Root was just as impressive, this time willing the ball the other way into the right hander’s pads, assessed leg before following a review. Given how little support the pitch gave, it is ominous for England what could happen if it does end up harder a bit later in the match. “It as a bit soft and a little bit slower than we thought” was Cummins’ assessment. “I still reckon it might take a day or so to get back to the really quick Gabba wicket that everyone is expecting.”

It should have been Lyon to end Vince’s day with the ball rather than in the field with a direct hit run out 15 runs later, winning his outside edge from around the wicket after doing him for flight with a gorgeous piece of drift. But that chance was put down by incoming wicketkeeper Tim Paine moving to his right. A tough chance, for sure, but as the veteran of the professional game knows, you’re judged on a much higher curve when wearing the gloves for Australia.

The least dynamic of the home quicks was Josh Hazlewood, who did nothing wrong yet was the bowler England dealt with most easily. He bowled a consistently fuller length than Cummins, which was part of the magic when he did slip in his two wicket-taking gems. Starc’s job now becomes vital when he does it all again tomorrow with the second new ball, which will only be half an over old when play resumes for day two. For those who remember what happened four years ago (and who doesn’t), it was only then Australia’s party got started.