IF the First Test is anything to go by, it is the team that bowls best that will win the Ashes.

And that should be good news for the England boys.

Both teams took 11 wickets each in Brisbane, but it was the tourists who looked like they had the most potent attack.

Jimmy Anderson banished any notions that he might struggle to swing the ball Down Under and looks more than capable of being the spearhead that is needed from a man with his experience.

Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin should have put the lottery on at the end of the third day because there is no way they will enjoy so much luck again in their careers.

It must be said that the two did well to ride out the storm and help the Aussies to a commanding first innings lead but Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn showed they will cause plenty of problems throughout the series.

What will concern Andrew Strauss is the form of Graeme Swann. The off-spinner, rated as the number two bowler in the world, never quite got to grips with the task at hand at the Gabba and he will need to take on a bigger role if England are to retain the urn.

Andy Flower seems determined to play with six batsman, meaning Swann has to take on the extra workload in the absence of a fifth bowler.

Apart from keeping the seamers fresh, Strauss relies on his slow bowler to create pressure and take plenty of wickets.

And, considering his supreme consistency for the best part of two years now, there is nothing to suggest that the Notts man will not return to his talismanic ways soon.

England will be wary of how they collapsed from a position of strength in Adelaide four years ago. After posting in excess of 500 in the first innings, they crumbled to 129 all out in their second knock.

It could be a final-day collapse that ultimately decides the destination of this series.

Luckily for England, it is they who have the match-winning spinner to exploit deteriorating pitches in this latest match-up.