England are in Australia seeking a fourth Ashes triumph in a row for the first time since the 1890s but they know that if they are to achieve their goal they probably need to get a result at the Gabba.
The Brisbane test is the traditional curtain raiser for Australia's home international season and the hosts have only lost eight test matches played at the ground going in to the start of the 56th today.
Such is the difficulty of breaching the Gabba fortress, the hosts will start the match slight favourites with the bookmakers even though England dominated this year's home Ashes series and Australia have lost seven of their last nine tests.
