This is a day so hot that shoes don't flip-flop, they stick stop. The pavement, the people, the players - all melting. And England, by tea, were in danger of melt-down. But nothing, not even that Warne special two-foot turner to get Afzaal, would prevent the Edgbaston crowd from renewing their relationship with ale. Convoys of men and women queued by the beer tent; trays relaying Fosters and shandy worked their way along the crowded rows. But this seemed to be ale of the neutralising kind. The punters, zombiefied, fell into a mid-afternoon stupor.

Every now and then, they would rally - when Ian Ward drove Warne for almost consecutive fours or Afzaal hooked McGrath. But slowly, and irreversibly, that midday optimism turned to mid-afternoon fatalism. When White fell to Warne, and England were 174 for 7, chants of "boring, boring" rang around the ground.

But these are people savouring every moment. Because this is The Ashes. This is Australia. And this is Edgbaston - England's lucky ground (until last year). Nasser Hussain's lucky ground come to that. And this is the first Test of the series. People can dream. Maybe they will see Usman's maiden Test century, or maybe they will see Ward's. All right, Giles's. Or maybe they will just sit and savour this great, great Australian team - Warne, McGrath, Gillespie, Lee. And that's just the bowlers.

We knew what we were going to get, we learnt it in the one-day series - seven close fielders in synchronised splendour. But it is so magical, so entertaining, that the traditional fancy-dress costumes of the crowd rather faded into insignificance. What's a convict or a nun or a silly wig or a blow-up kangaroo in comparison to a baggy green?

Tanya Aldred is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

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