Asylum's daily round up of the best coverage from the Ashes

Is it just me or did it feel like we picked right back up where we left off in 2005? Except this time we've both got crappier teams? A bit each way, overall - but if the Poms keep throwing away cheap wickets (KP, Freddie, I'm looking at you) we're in for an easy series. I'm fearing Aussie fans are heading for the same major frustration as '05 - a captain devoid of good ideas and any sense of creativity or adventure. That middle session was a snorefest in the field. Was Ponting too busy chewing his nails to try and create a wicket? FFS.

Aussie pundits
Pietersen's folly opens the door for Siddle
"Pietersen could have punished the touring side just as he did to seal the Ashes at the Oval four years ago, but instead gave up his wicket with the ridiculous sweep shot on 69." -Saltau
Australia's captain and attack have shown their limitations
"Having included the off spinner, Ponting promptly made the mistake of giving him too much responsibility. Giving Hauritz a 14-over stint and asking Michael Clarke to back him up hardly seemed the way to go. Moreover Ponting placed three men on the boundary, sometimes four. Not much of a way to win a Test match. England's batsmen were able to play themselves into form. It was a huge concession to make on the first day of an Ashes campaign." -Roebuck

Pommie pundits
Australian bowlers grab crucial late wickets on first day of Ashes
"Give the bowler credit. He saw Pietersen's movement, sent the ball towards the solitary slip and the batsman, rather than pull out of the stroke, attempted to fetch it round the corner from another parish. He was on his way even before Simon Katich backpedalled from short-leg to take the gentle top edge." -Selvey
Brutality of Ashes combat gives England reality check - ask Ravi Bopara
"Bopara jammy-dodged his way to 35 and treated us to just about every mishap and near-miss, as well as some entertaining strokes. His second ball from Peter "Sid Vicious" Siddle struck him around the neck and his next was fended off just short of short-leg. There was an inside edge for four, a sumptuous on-side drive and a fine pull-shot, both of which also yielded boundaries. But if Australia smelled England's blood before lunch, it was Bopara's claret they sniffed first." -Hayward