SHOOT the chief, and the rest will surrender.

That might have been the way in those old Westerns, but as England found out at Cardiff, it is not the case when it comes to Australian cricketers.

Captain Ricky Ponting finally succumbed for 150 on the third day of the first npower Test, dragging a Monty Panesar ball on to his stumps after adding 50 to his overnight score.

Cue Australia’s middle order to demonstrate the brick wall England will have to break through if they are to regain that famous little urn.

There are no soft touches, no weak links, not a trace of irresponsibility a la Kevin Pietersen. There are just hard, hard cricketers clearly intent on not giving England so much as a cold.

Michael Clarke racked up 83 with twinkling footwork and studious application, while Marcus North weighed in with 54 to just about take the match away from England.

When the rain came to see the back end of the day finish under lights for the first time in a Test match in the UK, it left one depressing thought hanging in the air.

How are England going to take enough Australian wickets to win this Ashes series?

There were other questions too.

Why does spinner Graeme Swann bowl so many full tosses?

Why has Stuart Broad been so wayward and so expensive despite picking up Clarke late on?

Why can England only win when it’s swinging?

It looked that way as James Anderson had the new ball dancing around in the morning, dismissing Simon Katich and Mike Hussey.

With Ponting, right, back in the dressing room too, England appeared to be back in the match – back on the march even. It was certainly their morning.

But when the swing disappeared England might have been bowling at the walls of the Millennium stadium.

Solid and sensible, Clarke and North were not for being dislodged easily.

They might not be the most famous names with the biggest reputations, but they are the engine room of this Australian side, teak-tough and deeply determined.

They are d i s c i - p l i n e d t o o , which did not always make for the most swashbuckling of afternoons. Any ball tinged with danger was cautiously left, a n y t h i n g loose dispatched with i n t e r e s t .

A g a i n , P i e t e r s e n take note.

P o n t i n g was pictured on the balcony with his feet up reading a newspaper, the picture of relaxation.

England captain Andrew Strauss, by contrast, wore an air of frustration. His men are not yet firing, although Andrew Flintoff continues to be his most threatening bowler, the only man who causes a ripple of optimism every time the ball is thrown to him.

The bugler pipes up with the theme to the Flintstones, the murmur begins as Freddie turns at the end of his run-up, and by the time he delivers the ball, the roar is not dissimilar from that which greets a try scored by Shane Williams.

But it is to no avail. The combination of a flat pitch and no luck meant Flintoff was as impotent as the rest.

So in the end, the day belonged once more to Ponting, who had reached 150 for the 13th time in his Test career.

Again England were taught a lesson and left not unhappy to see the Welsh rain. More is forecast. It might just save them. Who said it was a bad idea to play in Cardiff?