Day one: The hospital pass that changed the Test

You could tell it wasn't going to be Australia's day once Glenn McGrath trod on a cricket ball while playing touch footy. No, he wasn't playing touch footy with the cricket ball.

The Aussie lads were playing some warm-up touch footy (rugby league) on the Edgbaston outfield before the start of play in the Second Test, as you do. Brad Haddin passed the football to McGrath. McGrath heads for the tryline, and... who didn't put that Kookaburra away??

Over on his ankle, out of the Second Test, and with the Third Test in Manchester starting next Thursday, surely out for that too. I ask again, who didn't put that cricket ball back into the practice kit? Or maybe it was planted there by an undercover investigative reporter from The Sun masquerading as Mike Kasprowicz. It all gives a new meaning to that age-old rugby league term "hospital pass".

Unquestionably, the McGrath ball-balancing trick was Thursday's Play Of The Day. But coming in close behind was Ricky Ponting's call of the toss. Yeah, we've just lost our best - by a country mile - strike bowler so we'll give the Poms a bat first.

And that brings me to the Question du Jour: When was the last time England scored 407 runs in the opening day of an Ashes Test after being sent into bat?

Oops.

Midwinter-Midwinter points for Day One at Edgbaston: 3 pts - Marcus Trescothick; 2 pts - Andrew Flintoff; 1 pt - Kevin Pietersen.

That stumps score: England 407 all out. Australia to begin its first innings on Friday morning.