It was the same old story when Australia batted today: a top-order wobble followed by a brisk rebuilding operation which moved straight from salvage to carnage. The only major difference was that Ricky Ponting was part of the solution, not the problem. And it wasn't just his team's innings that he was rebuilding. Punter Ponting, the man who leads the Aussie victory singalong, is an all-or-nothing character who has been known to have difficulty resisting a drink or a bet. In India earlier this year he was nothing; in this summer's one-day series he was all-powerful; in the first three Ashes Tests he was nothing again. Not only was his batting stiff, edgy and at sea at No. 3, but his habitually excellent fielding began to crack too. By Trent Bridge, he had become probably the first man in Test history to be selected as a specialist singer.

Then, suddenly, in that way of hers, fate stopped toying with him and smiled. Steve Waugh went lame, Adam Gilchrist stepped up, a new vice-captain was needed, and Ponting, who could well have been dropped, got promoted instead.

Today he was inches away from further nothinghood, offering a chance on 0 which would have gone to hand if Alec Stewart had had England's slip cordon in the right place. This didn't feel as if it would make much difference, such was Ponting's discomfort. For half an hour he was all over the place, lunging at the ball with rigid arms, like a prince on a walkabout. And then, in an instant, he was all over England, helped by a generous supply of leg-stump half-volleys and precision-free bouncers. Of his first 100 runs, 62 came between fine leg and midwicket.

By the time he reached 30, he had grabbed the role usually occupied by Gilchrist – playing a vice-captain's innings. It's simple really: you just whirl your bat like a dervish and score loads of runs at indecently high speed.

England, meanwhile, do not even have a vice-captain, despite having needed one on four separate occasions in the past year. It is just one of the differences between these two sides.

Tim de Lisle is editor of Wisden.com

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