Ashes 2017: Late James Vince and Joe Root wickets fail to negate positive start as England nullify the Gabba spirit

England 196-4: Vince and Mark Stoneman surpass the highest partnership from the entire 2013/14 series on day one of the First Test as tourists settle the nerves

Number of scars opened: zero. Number of careers ended: also zero. On an unseasonably temperate day at the Gabba, England met Australian fighting talk with quiet defiance, drawing the sting from Australia’s fabled pace attack and carving out a position of moderate strength.

It could have been better still; particularly for James Vince, whose 83 was the highlight of a day on which England at times looked dreamily untroubled, their batting problems melting away, the famous “Gabbatoir” at one stage resorting to Mexican waves for entertainment. But Australia clawed their way back into the game in the final session, and will ultimately be pleased enough with their efforts, on a surface with all the spring and bounce of a vegetable frittata.

Vince and Mark Stoneman (53), another of England’s much-derided rookies, put on 125 for the second wicket, shrugging off the early loss of Alastair Cook and posting their highest Test scores. The pair have been sharing an apartment on tour, and over two dogged sessions, either side of a 95-minute rain delay, they managed to surpass England’s highest partnership from the entire 2013-14 Ashes series.

This is not merely a statistical curiosity. A good part of Australia’s purported advantage rests on reanimating the ghosts of four years ago. But in resisting Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood for most of the day, England made it clear that they intend to write their own stories on this tour. Indeed it was Lyon, drawing turn and bounce from the gripping Gabba pitch, who often looked like Australia’s most threatening bowler.

It was Lyon who also produced the day’s pivotal moment, brilliantly running out Vince from cover just when he seemed on course to become the first English batsman in over 80 years to score a century on the first day of an Ashes series in Australia. England found the going tougher after that, losing captain Joe Root for just 15, and when Dawid Malan (28) and Moeen Ali (13) resume on day two against the second new ball, a total of at least 350 must be their first target.

Cook made just two before his dismissal (Getty)

A stirring preamble and months of hype finally came to an end at precisely 10am local time, when Starc ran in against a whirlwind of noise to bowl the first ball of the series to Cook. The coin had landed in favour of Root and England, who had no hesitation in declaring his intention to bat first, and “bat big”.

It has been uncharacteristically cool in Brisbane this week, and with a lush outfield, benign batting conditions and enthusiastic pockets of Barmy Army support, the Gabba felt a far cry from the hostile, dizzying crucible of popular legend. Even the dismissal of Cook in the third over, caught on the crease and edging Starc to slip, failed to induce the customary English mania.

Starc celebrates having Cook caught at slip (Getty)

For at lunch, England were a cautious 59 for one, Australia looked weirdly inert. They had tried plenty - Lyon fizzing it from around the wicket, Starc whanging it into Stoneman’s ribs, Hazlewood at both ends - but none of it for very long. It was tough to tell, indeed, whether they had too many plans or no plan at all. Following the rain delay, Vince and Stoneman began to open up and play their shots.

They offered a distinct contrast. Stoneman took a watchful 150 balls to reach his half-century, leaving well, eschewing the drive wherever possible. Vince, on the other hand, drove elegantly and with impunity off front foot and back. With virtually no lateral movement to speak of, Australia’s fast bowlers momentarily looked bereft.

For Vince, a batsman chided in advance of this series by the Australians, who delighted in pointing out that he had averaged less in county cricket last season than England’s fielding coach Paul Collingwood, it was a particularly cathartic day. He got off the mark first ball and looked the most comfortable of England’s batsmen against the spin of Lyon. His surprise summons is already looking like one of the great England selection calls of recent years.

Stoneman (left) and Vince settled the nerves with a century partnership (Getty)

He offered but one chance, a thin edge off Lyon that was dropped by wicket-keeper Tim Paine on his return to Test cricket. But Lyon’s parsimony had prevented England from taking the game away, and when Cummins, persevering around the wicket to Stoneman, finally got one to swing in with the angle and thud into the top of middle stump, Australia had an opening.

Vince went next, falling victim of one of his frequent lapses of concentration, although not in the way we expected. There was little sign of danger as he knocked Hazlewood into the off-side, feeling the sweet contact on the bat, perhaps expecting to find the gap at cover. Still trapped in his blissful reverie, Vince failed to spot three warning signs: the ball was travelling at a fair lick, it was bobbling at a pleasant height for the fielder, and the man about to cut it off was an excellent fielder in Lyon.

Lyon ran out Vince on 83 (Getty)

By the time Vince’s survival instinct had finally kicked in, it was too late. Lyon swooped, gathered cleanly, and threw down the stumps with insouciance, almost arrogance. Vince, a foot short of his crease, watched his own demise from the best seat in the house. He had put in no dive, offered no real sense of urgency. He had batted beautifully. And yet, can you ever be truly satisfied with a day on which you have grasped a maiden Ashes century and then opened your fist?

Root looked strangely skittish, flicking Starc off his toes for four but trapped LBW when attempting the same shot off Cummins. But Malan and Moeen, promoted to No6 ahead of Jonny Bairstow, saw England safely through to the close against a darkening sky.

Australia celebrate Lyon's run-out of Vince (Getty)

First days of Ashes series can obscure as much as they reveal. England’s run rate was modest, there is plenty of batting still to be done, and occasional showers are forecast for the rest of the week. As India discovered to their cost here in 2014, even 400 may not be enough to make the game safe.

All possibilities remain, then. But in defying pre-series predictions of a capitulation, you felt this was an experience that could potentially set England up: a nerve-calmer, a stress-reliever, a tasty breakfast at the start of a tough day. Above all, England strode into the lair of their favourite enemy, and discovered nothing to frighten them.