Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell find their feet in South Australia

Gradually England's top six are finding form in time for Brisbane. Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell added their names to those batsmen who came claim to have settled into the Ashes tour with the first Test still a fortnight away. England's 288-8 was modest at best, especially in Australia where big first-innings runs are generally essential, and the most optimistic slant that could be taken on an inconsistent day was that at least the runs were allocated roughly where they were most needed. After Andrew Strauss' match-winning hundred against Western Australia, and some encouraging flourishes from Kevin Pietersen, Collingwood fell only six runs short of what would have been England's second hundred of the tour and Bell's blissful 61 surely represented one of the most composed innings he has played in Australia. Collingwood had looked out of touch against Western Australia in Perth, but he rarely starts as fluently as he did today. It was when Collingwood began to treat the short ball with comfort that England's innings finally settled, a stand of 131 in 32 overs with Bell in the afternoon session ensuring them of a score of sorts. Collingwood's fluency deserted him as he neared a potential hundred and it was a misconceived drive against Jake Haberfield that sliced to Callum Ferguson at gully when he was 94 – made in only 116 ball – that ended his innings. Bell began cautiously, but rarely put a foot wrong. One extra-cover drive against Haberfield was so exquisite that alone it promised to change Australia's dubious opinion of his talent. Then, for no apparent reason, he misread a straight one from Ben Edmondson and was bowled through the gate. England's start was disrupted by Peter George, a 24-year-old quick who will also face the tourists in next week's four-day affair against Australia A in Hobart. George, who made his Test debut in Australia's seven-wicket defeat against India in Bangalore last month, removed Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott with the new ball and will now believe himself a contender. It would take several fast-bowling injuries for that to be the case. There was a surprising amount of early bounce on what is traditionally one of the more sedate surfaces in Australia and Strauss, who gloved a rising ball down the legside, and Trott, who spliced a simple return catch as he attempted to pull, encapsulated an uncertain England morning against the short ball. Alastair Cook, who averages only 26 in 10 Tests against Australia, survived the morning, but it was a mechanical, somewhat malfunctioning innings, notable more for its purpose than its fluency. A jab at a shortish ball from George soon after lunch gave wicket-keeper Graham Manou his second catch, and Cook's frustrated swish of the bat told of much work wasted as he was dismissed for 32. With three wickets down, Pietersen chose a more assertive route, and his brief assault on George and his new-ball partner, Edmondson, briefly justified his assertion in Perth last week that he was "on fire." This time the fire was put out by a Blizzard — Aiden Blizzard, leaping at deep square leg to knock up a catch perilously close to the rope as Pietersen pulled Edmondson. England's declaration with eight down gave them nine overs at South Australia before the close of the first day, but they made no headway, showing few signs that they can add a second victory to that achieved against the Retravision Warriors last week. Meanwhile, Australia's selection concerns for Brisbane have not abated. In Sydney today, Nathan Hauritz took 0-74 and went at five runs an over against Victoria, which will only encourage speculation that with Queensland's weather showing no signs of settling, and the farmers facing a ruined harvest because of heavy rain, Australia may omit Hauritz in favour of an all-seam attack. Hauritz bowled two overs in NSW's recent Shield game in Brisbane but he did take five wickets against the West Indies at The Gabba a year ago.