It was a day for burning up the record books at the Gabba as Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott produced a herculean unbroken stand of 329 to secure a comfortable draw for England. Cook scored his maiden double-century and Trott hit his second hundred against Australia, making it the first time England's top three had scored Ashes tons, before Andrew Strauss declared at a mind-boggling 1 for 517, which left Australia to face 41 overs.
There was never a realistic chance of a result with England 296 in front, but they wanted to try to secure further psychological points ahead of Adelaide. Stuart Broad, wicketless in the first innings, made an early breakthrough when Simon Katich edged to slip, however, Ricky Ponting put two days of fielding frustration behind him to notch a brisk half-century as he and Shane Watson batted out the remainder of the match and lifted Australia's spirits a little. It had been a sobering time in the field, as they claimed a single wicket in 26 overs.
While Cook and Trott extended a stand that was already worth 121 overnight, it was difficult to keep up with each new landmark. On a personal level, Cook's 200 came from 306 balls while Trott's elegant, composed hundred took 213 and his was an innings studded with wonderful driving. In 2005, Cook cracked a double-hundred against the touring Australians but that wasn't a first-class match and this innings left his previous Test-best of 173, made against Bangladesh at Chittagong, well behind.
In a mark of what Cook achieved, he also broke a record held by Don Bradman for the highest individual score at the Gabba, while his match aggregate bettered that of Matthew Hayden in the 2002-03 Ashes encounter. Trott, meanwhile, continued the prolific start to his Test career and made it two second-innings hundreds in two Tests against Australia following his debut ton at The Oval.
The partnership rattled through the records. It became the highest for England in Australia and banished the Michael Hussey-Brad Haddin alliance to second place for any stand at Brisbane less than two days after it was set. They finished with the highest-scoring innings for the loss of a single wicket. For the England fans, who far outnumbered the locals on the final day, it will have been the performance of Ashes dreams.
England began the day knowing they weren't out of danger despite yesterday's heroics and there were more than a few mentions of what happened in Adelaide four years ago. However, this time there was no Shane Warne to spin the batsmen into submission. Instead, Cook and Trott continued as they had done the previous evening by scoring at a rapid pace against unthreatening bowling and by lunch it was just a question of how many overs England wanted at demoralised opponents.
Ponting set fairly defensive fields and a number of edges flew through gaps in the slips, but Australia couldn't even take the one chance that came their when Michael Clarke dropped a sitter at slip when Trott, on 75, tried to guide Watson to third man. Ponting just continued to chew his gum and the home side were deflated.
Mitchell Johnson, meanwhile, went through a horrid spell to give his confidence another pounding. He tried over and round the wicket to both batsmen, but his match was summed up when he sprayed a terrible bouncer miles down the leg side against Trott which flew for five wides. Johnson ended wicketless in a Test for the first time and faced a nervous wait to see what his immediate future held.
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