Ashley Giles explained that England's second-day performance was vital to team morale after the mauling Australia gave them yesterday, although he warned that England would need to be at their best throughout the series if they were to compete. "We may not be as talented as this Australian team but, if nothing else, we've got plenty of character and we will fight for every run and every wicket," said Giles. "As soon as you take your foot off the gas they will hit you hard.

"We were pretty low last night after a long, hot day in the field, but it's a lot better now. When we hit our straps we can bowl anyone out and Andy Caddick bowled a beautiful spell this morning from one end, and those kind of performances give everyone a kick up the backside and spur you on. We have a lot of character in this team and if we're nothing else we're fighters and this is going to be a very tough series."

For once Shane Warne was left to reflect on a poor batting performance and sloppy fielding. "If we held our chances, got the stumping and a run-out it could have been a completely different story," he said. "England showed they have plenty of fire and spirit and they fought hard and they probably won the points today. We weren't saying the Ashes were over after yesterday, you guys [the media] did, we didn't."

Warne could not resist a dig at England's record of failing to make the most of their good days against Australia. "England teams we've played against have always had a lot of character, but it's just a matter of whether they can sustain the pressure for long enough with the bat and the ball. That's why we've beaten England over the last 15 years.

"Generally when we bat we can sustain pressure on their bowlers and when we bowl we can keep that pressure on. England can come out and have a good session here and there, or a good day, but over a period of five days in a Test match we've generally been able to assert pressure with both bat and ball."

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd