I feel absolutely knackered - back-to-back Tests, especially a long first day in the field, really do it in for you. This was probably the most crucial toss of the summer. I'm not making excuses, it's just a fact. The Oval pitch is better than it has been for a couple of years - it is going to play very well for a couple of days and then it will start to turn. It is already showing signs of wear.

I think that we bowled well first up and that we kept our discipline and fielded well - all in all it was a better day for us than the first day at Headingley. After tea we went a bit ragged but then Jimmy Ormond came back and bowled a good spell so I can't be too downbeat.

I'd only seen a little bit of Ormond but the scouts had been out and about and given him a good write-up. He was nearly called up a while ago to be honest, but he wasn't fully fit so we called up Richard Johnson instead.

I saw Ormond bowl yesterday and was impressed with what I saw, he swung it around and that's what I wanted here - a genuine swing bowler. It was my idea to get him to bowl a few offbreaks – he sometimes bowls a few for Leicester. I was a bit wary of it though, I didn't want to get him swapping from swing to spin too much on Test debut, but I thought it was worth a try against Ricky Ponting - who doesn't play spin too well first up.

It was a bit of a surprise that Michael Slater got dropped to be honest – but it just shows what phenomenal strength in depth the Australians have got. And then he gets in and gets a hundred …

Tomorrow, we've just got to stick at it, keep the run-rate down and when we bat make sure we reach the follow-on target and stay in the game.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Tanya Aldred

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd