Tonderful: Strauss led by example with the bat in Brisbane yesterday
Session one: England 135/0.
Resuming on 19-0, openers Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss bat superbly in the morning to take England into the lunch break unscathed. Cook reaches his second half-century of the match and, with Strauss looking well set on 79, England trail Australia by just 86 runs at the break. The pair’s partnership is England’s highest opening stand at the Gabba.
Verdict: England.
Session two: England 238/1.
England’s opener continue to bat on after lunch as Strauss completes his first Test century in Australia but the captain finally goes for 110, stumped by Brad Haddin off Marcus North with England still 33 runs in arrears. Jonathan Trott and Alastair Cook wipe out the deficit and by lunch the tourists are 17 runs ahead.
Verdict: England.
Session three: England 309/1
England continue to give Australia the run around in the field, with Cook reaching his century and Trott 50. The players go off for bad light 13 minutes from the scheduled close with England leading by 88.
Verdict: England.
Test in a tweet: England bat superbly to haul themselves back into this match. From staring at defeat, a draw looks likely but don’t write off a win yet.
Who we’ll befriend on Facebook: Andrew Strauss.
A superb knock by England’s captain, leading from the front in a desperate situation and getting his side back into this match. It was his first century in Australia too.
And who we’ll unfriend: Mitchell Johnson.
The bungling Aussie left-arm quick has had a terrible game. Wicketless in the first innings, he was bowled for a duck when he picked up the bat and then he tops it all off by dropping Strauss when England’s captain was on 69. It’s not just us unfriending Mitch, Australia’s selectors may well decide to do the same before the second Test in Adelaide.
Chant of the day: Boozed up largely English crowd in front of the press box turning round en masse and serenading us with a series of chants, the best being: “You’re only sat there on Facebook,” to which one journo turns his laptop around to show Facebook. They then start singing: “You’re getting sacked in the morning.” Priceless.
Download of the day: Bat out of hell by Meatloaf.