If the opening two sessions of the first Ashes Test were an arm wrestle, Peter Siddle broke England's humerus in the final stanza of play - and the Poms will find nothing funny about it.

From 4/197 with Cook and Bell coasting, Siddle took four wickets in the blink of an eye - including the ninth Ashes hat-trick - to reduce England to 8/228 and fearing a hiding. A late rally from Ian Bell took England to 260 but Australia and Siddle laid down a marker for the rest of the series.

The Victorian's indefatigable performance showed the benefits of his off-season training with Carlton and controlled start to the season with the Bushrangers. He bowled with pace, control, movement and was rewarded with a hat-trick of the highest order. First he tempted Cook into driving to first slip. Next he blasted through Prior's flimsy defence before finally crushing Stuart Broad's big toe with a missile of an inswinging yorker.

Cook (67) Pietersen (43) and Trott (29) all made starts but failed to post the big score the placid Gabba wicket encouraged. Only Ian Bell (76) had both the intent and skill to take charge against an Australian attack lacking more than one cutting edge.

Hilfenhaus (1/60) probed, Watson (1/30) made the ball wobble and Doherty (2/41) showed he is more of a wicket-taking option than Hauritz but only Siddle (6/54) looked consistently threatening. Worryingly for Australia, Mitchell Johnson (0/66) looked innocuous throughout and was the only bowler not to take a wicket.

Simon Katich and Shane Watson navigated an awkward half-hour to steer Australia to 0/25 at stumps.

THE VIEW FROM AUSTRALIA:

Australia will be delighted with its position after day one of the first Ashes Test. After snaring Andrew Strauss third-ball Ricky Ponting must have thought it was a fortuitous toss to lose but thereafter the sun shone and the disappointingly slow wicket flattened to dampen Baggy Green spirits.

Enter Peter Siddle. In two devastating spells Siddle ripped the heart out of an England side and drove Australia to a position from which it will be disappointed not to win.

THE VIEW FROM ENGLAND:

Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Four English batsmen made at least 29 but none made the big hundred their side required. The number of low scores will be a concern but not converting decent starts into match-winners will frustrate Andy Flower the most.

The positive note for England is that this Gabba wicket should be familiar to England's bowlers. Slow, green and susceptible to swing, England's attack should have no excuses for not putting the Australian top order under pressure.

Siddle has shown the way by bowling full, allowing the ball to swing late and forcing batsman to drive. If England does the same as a group, there is no reason they should have to suffer a significant first-innings deficit.

HERO:

Peter Matthew Siddle. Could there be a better birthday present for an Australian fast bowler than a hat-tick against England? Siddle celebrated his 26th with that cherished prize after ripping through England's middle order in a blistering final-session spell. Siddle's hat-trick was part of an overall 6/56 on a day in which he led the Australian attack with heart, aggression but also brains. After realising the slow Gabba wicket required a fuller length, he was the only Australian seamer to adjust successfully enough to pressurize England's batsmen.

Arguably only in the side because of fitness concerns to Doug Bollinger, Siddle's haul puts the National Selection Panel in a tough position if and when Bollinger returns to the reckoning.

VILLAIN:

Mark Taylor - It's ALASTAIR Cook, not Nick Cook. OK?

I'M NOT SURE ANYONE ELSE NOTICED, BUT:

In Australia commentating for Sky Sports in the UK, Sir Ian Botham approached the canteen at lunch and enquired about the tray of cheesy looking matter. "Vegetarian lasagna" I informed him. "I don't see much future for that in here" he replied as he tucked in to the roast beef. Beefy by name, beefy by nature.

WHAT'S NEXT:

With the weather set fair and the wicket expected to dry out, Australia will look to score heavily as the ball begins to come onto the bat at greater speed.

After ten wickets on the opening day it's hard to see the match making it through until Monday.

TAB Sportsbet odds:

Australia $1.40            Draw $7.50            England $4.50

Close Day 1: England 260, Australia 0/25 - Watson 9*, Katich 15*

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(FROM EARLIER IN THE DAY -

SESSION TWO:

Australia pegged England back to 4/172 to gain a slight ascendency at tea on day one of the first Ashes Test thanks to two wickets from paceman Peter Siddle. Preferred in the side to Doug Bollinger, Siddle bowled full and fast after lunch, allowing the natural variations in the wicket do the rest.

Siddle's first wicket was the dangerous Kevin Pietersen for 43. England's star looked to be approaching his domineering best in a 76-run partnership with Alastair Cook before he attempted one off-drive too many. A full ball in the corridor that Pietersen expected to see racing to the extra-cover fence flew instead to the safe hands of Ricky Ponting at second slip.

New batsman Paul Collingwood followed in Siddle's next over. The Victorian's consistent full length on or just outside off-stump inducing an unbalanced shot from Collingwood who could only push an uppish drive to Marcus North at third slip.

With its tail up, Australia had England at its mercy but only Siddle looked like inducing a false shot from a slow, placid Gabba wicket. Left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty looked promising on debut but Mitchell Johnson again appeared below his spearhead best.

It was off Johnson's bowling that Ricky Ponting used Australia's second and final UDRS review with the third umpire judging that Ian Bell did not nick an outside edge through to Brad Haddin.

Throughout both sessions Alastair Cook (60*) has remained a study of concentration, displaying the maker's name to anything on line and leaving anything off it. He has found an able partner in Ian Bell (26*) who is playing a confident, fighting knock in a manner unrecognisable to anyone who endured the fidgety nudger that was last in the country.

The game remains beautifully poised after two sessions with both sides in with a shout of taking the honours for the day. If England is more than six down by the close it will have been Australia's but if this partnership takes England beyond 250 they will be pleased with their efforts after a difficult start.

One note of caution. Dark clouds began to gather as tea approached, with spots of rain reaching the turf.

At tea: England 4/172 - Cook 60*, Bell 26*

Earlier, England battled to 2/86 at lunch on the first morning after Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat. Honours were even for a session that could have been so much better for Australia had chances gone their way.

A typically muggy Brisbane morning revealed a pitch with such a green hue it shimmered almost radioactive from the cover/midwicket boundary. Strauss sent a bold message by batting first but invited a nightmare first hour for England's top order.

And it took just three balls for that portent to be realised as Strauss (0) slashed loosely off the back foot to a short Ben Hilfenhaus delivery. The England captain was cramped by some late inswing from the Tasmanian, causing him to pick out Mike Hussey in the gully (pictured, above) like an angler casting a strike directly into his target's open mouth.

First blood to Australia.

The next hour revealed the wicket to be less potent than expected but Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott rode their luck to survive a number of scares. Edges dropped short of slips and gullies or were not identified at all while Trott survived the first UDRS review of the series with an LBW decision off Peter Siddle going his way.

However, just as the sun came out and the wicket flattened, Trott lost his head and his wicket. An exploratory over from Shane Watson revealed little until Trott (29) drove expansively at the final delivery. England's first drop played all around a full straightish in-dipper, splaying his stumps and provoking an eruption from the near-capacity Gabba.

Trott's dismissal brought Kevin Pietersen to the crease with raucous boos and catcalls normally reserved in these parts for New South Welshmen. It also brought debutant, Tasmanian left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty, into the attack and he immediately extracted some turn and bounce. A confident looking Pietersen responded by sashaying down the wicket and twice flaying the Tasmanian into the on side.

As England looked to the lunch break there was still time for Australia to take the session honours but Doherty grassed a fierce Cook drive at point off the bowling of Watson. Cook was 26 at the time, and the score 2/73, and the drop could yet prove very costly.

At lunch: England 2/86 - Cook 29*, Pietersen 23*)