An old ghost returned to haunt Tasmania, and two of Queensland's most seasoned campaigners reversed the trend of previously mediocre seasons, as déjà vu and a break with custom were delicately intertwined on the opening day of the 2001-02 Pura Cup Final here in Brisbane.

By their own high standards, Andrew Symonds (91*) and Stuart Law (62*) have weathered frustrating summers. Symonds was axed from the national one-day team last month, Law has experienced the frustration of a recurring break in a finger on his right hand, and neither had scored in excess of 200 Pura Cup runs for the season before today.

Between them, they had scrounged a total of only two half centuries from 18 first-class matches.

Quite a time, then, for them to produce an outstanding, unbroken 155-run stand for the fifth wicket that extricated the Bulls from trouble at 4/98, carried them to relative safety at 4/253 by stumps, and defined the hard-fought, opening passages of the most important domestic match of them all.

Symonds was more restrained than normal, largely abandoning his characteristically aggressive mindset to play an innings that matched hard work with discipline. His defence was solid, his cutting (even though the ball often seemed too close to the body for the shot to be played with comfort) was particularly accomplished, and his driving down the ground was just as significant a feature.

Law's batting was also impressive in a display which offered no sign of lasting duress from his injured digit, and which underscored his regular capacity to frustrate rival teams in finals matches. His pre-match verbal assault on the Tasmanians (which had included everything from a suggestion that a total of 300 might be enough for Queensland to win by an innings to an inference that summer temperatures in Tasmania rarely exceed 15 degrees) spilled over into an innings that was full of snarling defiance.

Yet the day also hinged on umpire Steve Davis' controversial rejection in mid-afternoon of an imploring lbw appeal from Shane Jurgensen (3/64) and 10 other equally convinced Tasmanians as Symonds faced the very first delivery of his innings.

Jurgensen, in the midst of a superb post-lunch spell that had already netted two wickets and given the visitors a clear early edge, trapped Symonds on the back foot with a ball that appeared to pitch on or just outside the line of off stump and straighten.

But deafening cries met with a mute response from the man in white.

And it was impossible not to overlook the eerie similarity with an incident in a match between the same teams in Brisbane two years ago.

Then as now, a first-ball reprieve for Symonds set the scene for a crucial partnership that restored health to Queensland 's cause after potential crisis had threatened. And, then as now, Queensland wriggled expertly off the hook and into a position of command by day's end.

"The guy's 90 not out, that's how critical it was. But that's part of the game, isn't it?" mused Tasmanian captain Jamie Cox.

"It could have been a different day, and it could be a different day tomorrow. Maybe we had our luck early today.

"It's something we have to be good enough to overcome."

Tasmania's frustration, in the closing half of a day that had featured a spate of lbw and caught behind appeals (many optimistic, but a handful eminently reasonable), was also fuelled by the absence from the field of injured left arm spinner Daniel Marsh.

Marsh damaged his right knee in a freak accident that added insults from the 'Gabba outer to a serious injury and a dropped catch at first slip. Opener Daniel Payne (17) cut off a top edge at Jurgensen and the ball travelled at waist-height to the normally sure-handed Marsh. Two bites at the catch on shifting turf were required and his right leg buckled awkwardly underneath him in the process.

Later examinations revealed a strained medial ligament, guaranteeing that the Tasmanian vice-captain is unlikely to field again in the match and that he will probably need to bat with the aid of a runner.

When Gerard Denton (1/55) forced Payne into shovelling a catch to square leg with only five further runs against the batsman's name, and Jurgensen lured Brendan Nash (12) into thick edging to wicketkeeper Sean Clingeleffer, compelled Lee Carseldine (29) into directing an outswinger to third slip, and trapped Martin Love (34) on his crease, it appeared that the Tasmanians may have been able to overcome the blow.

But, by the end of the day, the sudden lack of variation in their attack had clearly conspired against them.

Two fine batsmen, a rarely misbehaving pitch, and the ghosts of seasons past also had major roles to play.

© 2002 CricInfo Ltd