ENGLAND uncovered the unlikeliest pair of batting heroes to somehow escape unscathed as the 2009 Ashes began with a draw as tense as any in the history of cricket.

It might have taken some explaining to an American, of course, as Monty Panesar and James Anderson stayed put for 39 minutes and sneaked England into credit on the way to as lop-sided a stalemate as you could envisage.

From the outset – and it seems an eternity since the first ball was bowled by Mitchell Johnson on Wednesday morning – England have done things the hard way in Cardiff.

They have had their critics and deserved them too, notwithstanding the resolve they belatedly and tellingly demonstrated through the final two sessions – principally in the guise of Paul Collingwood.

England’s number five approached near strokelessness for long periods yesterday and more or less abandoned the concepts of back-lift and follow-through.

But he simply would not be moved – and without him, nothing Panesar, Anderson or eight others might have managed would have been more than a footnote in a landslide Australia victory.

If Collingwood’s 17 runs in two Oval innings were worth an MBE in new year 2006, there ought to be a significantly higher honour in the offing four years on for his 74 off 245 balls at Sophia Gardens.

That, of course, will depend entirely on what happens next – starting at Lord’s in four days’ time and all the way back to The Oval at the end of August.

England were slower starters still on their way to a shock series victory and unprecedented cricketing glory in 2005.

If they are to come anywhere near close to that, though, the starting point will be to learn the lessons of what went wrong over the vast majority of the past five days, rather than basking in the achievements of tailend saviours who should not have been called upon on a pitch of negligible pace and only moderate spin, which should have had bore draw written all over it.

The Ashes is all the richer that England’s frailties conspired to throw up appropriate drama in episode one of this much-hyped series.

But Andrew Strauss’ team will know they cannot afford more of the same if they are to avoid defeat for long against tourists who could hardly be more motivated – programmed even – for success, from captain Ricky Ponting all the way through the ranks.

Panesar has much to be proud of but is likely to discover today that his services as a frontline spinner will not be retained for Lord’s, where Graeme Swann will twirl alone and the Durham pace of either Graham Onions or preferably Steve Harmison will be recalled.

Kevin Pietersen was the scapegoat in England’s first innings and was unable to rise to the occasion yesterday but it should be a source of encouragement that the team have others capable of mixing it with Australia even when their main man falls short.

England responded remarkably to an opening defeat at Lord’s in 2005; to stay competitive again this summer, a spot of honesty about their largely inadequate performance in Cardiff is essential.

That way, they should still have worthwhile prospects of exploiting the disappointment in an opposing camp who may be just a tiny bit vulnerable after their frustrating near miss.