IT WAS A great start for Australia in Brisbane as the 2010 Ashes got underway.

If that sentence makes little sense to you, have a look at our guide to the game of cricket.

Peter Siddle was the Aussie hero as he took a hat-trick on his 26th birthday and a Test-best 6-54 as England’s batting was dismantled on the opening day of the first Ashes Test.

If any where needed the first day served as a harsh reminder for England that an Ashes series on Australian soil remains one of the toughest of assignments.

The home press reacted as one might expect – with a mixture of optimism and caution.

The Sydney Morning Herald hailed Siddle’s headline-grabbing display:

By and large, shattering events occur without warning. On this occasion the bowling had become pedestrian and the batsmen looked comfortable.

Everyone, though, knew one thing. Siddle would put body and soul into every delivery. That is his custom, his way of life. It is also a precondition of mighty feats.

Jim Tucker (great Aussie name) was happy to put the boot into the English  in the Courier Mail:

Former England captain Nasser Hussain previewed the opening of hostilities by crowing it was time for “England’s cricket to do the talking” .

Their cricket talked in a whisper.

Andrew Webster of the Herald Sun, however was less pugnacious:

It remains to be seen if the Strauss dismissal will have profound meaning for the rest of the Ashes but you can safely bet that Ponting knows it will take more than the cheaply-claimed scalp of the rival skipper to win them back.

When they’ve lost the Ashes, Australia’s problem has not been how they’ve started but how they’ve finished.

Check out all the detail here, here and here.