Day one at the Adelaide Oval

England have rarely enjoyed success in Australia in recent tours, but the Adelaide Oval in particular has given the the English nightmares. The last three attempts at leaving the city with anything other than defeat saw them disappointed.

The latest will have hit the team and the fans the hardest, falling to a six-wicket loss having posted 551-6 in their first innings. The demons of the past need to be put to rest, and what England would give for stalwart Paul Collingwood to notch another big innings after scoring 206 here in 2006.

The incredible comeback at the Gabba in Brisbane was a perfect advertisement for Test cricket, taking each team to the brink before settling on a draw. There was everything from record scores to hat-tricks, so could the second Test emulate this? It didn't get off to a bad start if your an England supporter.

Simon Katich (0) departed without facing a ball following good work by Jonathan Trott at mid-wicket, Ricky Ponting (0) recorded only his fifth golden duck in his career after nicking through to Graeme Swann off the consistent James Anderson. The Lancastrian picked up the walking-wicket of Michael Clarke (2) whose inconsistency shone through in his brief spell.

Marcus North (26) stuck around for a painstaking 93 balls while the ever-present Mike Hussey (93) rode his luck to torment England's bowlers once again. A long tail does not want to be called upon in the first afternoon, particularly when the side have only made 207 before Ryan Harris strolled to the crease.

A pitiful 245 was all that Ponting and co could muster, and England must now seek to eradicate the poor Adelaide history to replace dampened memories with a morale-boosting win. Time for the batsmen to follow up an excellent start by the bowlers.