The first day of the 2002-03 Ashes series produced a glut of records - the highest individual score on the opening day of an Ashes series, Australia's highest second-wicket partnership in home Ashes Tests, the highest first-day attendance at the Gabba … So it was only appropriate that England bowled like a stuck record. Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting's second-wicket stand of 272 continued another familiar trend - Hayden's 186 not out was his seventh century in 13 matches, Ponting's 123 his fourth in six. But, as our graphs show, both men scored an astonishingly high proportion of their runs on the leg side, despite - or more likely because of - England's religious adherence to a line outside off stump.

Ever since England's tour of India last winter, Nasser Hussain's default tactic against dangerous batsmen has been to channel his bowlers into a corridor of frustration. Of the 544 deliveries that England bowled on the first day, a furrow-ploughing 421 of them (77%) were designed to pass harmlessly through to the keeper. But the Australians had other designs for them …

It wasn't that England's length let them down - 91% of their deliveries were either on a good length or just short. Instead they were too predictable - only seven genuinely short balls were dug in all day. Hayden took full toll, swatting across the line over his favoured midwicket region, and more than two-thirds of his runs came on the leg side (67%). Ponting, rocking back and punching forward, was equally dismissive on the on, with 86 of his runs (70%) coming in that region. England already need a new bowler after Simon Jones's awful injury. On this evidence, they need a new masterplan as well.

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