The players are out there. It looks sunny, excellent for batting, the Queensland-coloured seats are popping. I expect Australia to assess the pitch, and if true enough, to counterpunch. Woakes is at the top of his mark... An early start today, we’re underway in two minutes. Some messages coming in: Conor writes: “Hi Sam, felt a Christmas eve-like excitement last night and decided to pull an all-nighter with my assignments and BT sport open side by side. Booked a study space in the silent study room, and was practically bouncing in my seat for the first ball. No word of a lie that I let out an expletive that came from the depths of my soul. My whole life this last three months has been one big head tilt into the offside. My hopes, dreams, eudemonic wellbeing all came undone in the space of one leg stump half volley. “how good”. Not very.” I’m sorry brother. And Brendan via Twitter: “It may be a sunny warm morning perfect for batting, but England have 2 bowlers with a total of over 1100 test wickets, in their squad. That levels it up surely...oh wait.Robinson has to have a miracle innings today.” There’s a fair bit of consternation over the omissions of both Anderson and Broad. I was of the same view as Pat Cummins (why wouldn’t you be at this point?) that I expected they’d pick one. But I thought the selections were positive and proactive. We’ll soon find out if they were, and retroactively adjust our opinions accordingly. Prominent Australian broadcaster Gerard Whateley is grilling CA CEO Nick Hockley on-air before play for SEN Radio. Though he doesn’t elicit much. A crass summary as I see it: Where will the fifth Test be played? Still thinking about it. Did the Prime Minister’s intervention in favour of Hobart carry any weight? Yes it’s a prestigious Test, isn’t it? Are you happy with how CA handled the Tim Paine controversy? I respect Tim. Will you reconsider David Warner’s leadership ban? No one has raised it with us. And here’s Barney Ronay on Josh Hazlewood... While you wait (and contemplate the inherent fairness of cricketing conditions), here are a couple of typically excellent pieces following yesterday’s events. This was Geoff capturing the vibe inside the Gabba... More weather talk. It’s important to gather more than one source - here is our colleague Geoff Lemon on the ground in Brisbane. Hmm...looks friendly overhead. Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone, Wherever you land in the Ashes divide, yesterday was nothing short of visceral. A day of explosion and drama, unevenly distributed. After rolling England for 147 on a green one with cloud overhead, it feels much of Australia already senses a drubbing in the offing. Of course, this is how we do things here, building then riding the wave momentum – slightly confected – feeding the stereotype of a snarling Australian unit manhandling a feeble England outfit on a dangerous Gabba wicket. All of a sudden, the omission of Anderson and Broad is conflated with a poor batting display – all of it endemic of a touring party for whom “the wheels have fallen off”. And so on. All of this before England has had a chance to bowl. Ultimately, Australia assuredly exploited some favourable conditions yesterday, and England will have its chance today. The series is essentially two sessions old, and chest-out Australians are only ever a problem or two away from trouble. All eyes will be on Woakes and Robinson, the favoured seam-up metronomes who’ll be counted on to match the unerring lines, lengths and angles of Cummins and Starc. For all the noise and pageantry yesterday, it was the relentlessness of the skipper and former vice that wrought the damage. Should Woakes and Robinson be able to do similar, with catches held, England will wrestle their way back in. No doubt Australia will be brighter and bolder with the bat, so the margins already feel small. I’ve not done this round for a little while, so be gentle. Would love your thoughts, contributions and threats at sam.perry.freelance@theguardian.com, or on the Twitter machine @sjjperry. Going to grab some news on the weather, it appears … sunny.