By Justin Langer Australia Test batsman

There is not much time for celebration ahead of Friday's second Test

Standing shoulder to shoulder with Matt Hayden and Mike Hussey singing the Australian national anthem before the first Ashes Test was one of the most inspiring moments of my cricket career.

Eight minutes before a ball had been bowled in Brisbane the adrenaline was sent haywire through my body as the grandstands roared a moving version of Advance Australia Fair.

If we weren't pumped up enough by the build-up to this series, we were certainly ready for action when the final words had been belted out.

The emotion of the moment stayed with me throughout the entirety of my first innings. It was as if everything was being played in fast forward.

England only bowled about 25 overs in that first session and yet it felt like we were playing the first half of a rugby final, rather than a cricket Test match.

Everything just seemed to be moving so fast.

Harmison's first two balls were wayward and England were almost unable to come back from the disappointment throughout the remainder of the Test

The nerves were energy sapping, the noise deafening and the tension almost too much to bear as Steve Harmison ran in to bowl the first ball of the series.

Then England's tallest fast bowler let it go straight to his captain at second slip.

It was in stark contrast to his first two balls at Lord's in July 2005 and I can't help but wonder if the opening to this series could prove to be as significant as it was 15 months ago.

Back then, Harmison's body language symbolised the attitude of his entire team. His first ball flew through to Geraint Jones, the next thundered into my right elbow.

It set the scene for the summer.

This time, the first two balls were wayward and it was as if England were deflated and almost unable to come back from the disappointment throughout the remainder of the Test.

Despite a fighting partnership between Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen in the middle session of day four, it felt like we had control of the game from the first over.

We were in overdrive from the start and duly completed a comprehensive win.

Our preparation had been so precise that we were as ready as we could possibly be for that first session of play.

And once again Ricky Ponting was quite simply magnificent.

Ponting just missed out on a double century in Brisbane

You could tell from the look in his eyes and his body language in the few days before the game that he was highly motivated to see us do well this series.

From the moment he walked to the crease his feet were moving like pistons and he was watching the ball like a hawk.

It is no coincidence that he ended the game with more than 250 runs under his belt.

In England's first innings I haven't seen our bowlers work so well collectively for a long time.

Every one of England's batsmen would have felt the immense pressure of Test cricket - the pressure was suffocating and you could almost touch it, such was the feeling out in the middle.

Ricky's decision not to enforce the follow-on has stirred up much debate.

The final result is testimony that his decision was the right one.

Sure, there are a lot of "what ifs" but our captain makes tactical decisions on what he believes is best for us to win a Test match and in this case he was proved to be spot on.

In the changing rooms on Monday afternoon, it felt how I imagine it would be at base camp at Mount Everest.

Getting to base camp is an achievement in itself but to reach the summit an enormous amount of work still has to be done.

Rather than getting too carried away with winning the first Test we only spent a bit of time reflecting and enjoying the moment.

Then we reminded each other that there is still a long, long way to go before the Ashes stay here in Australia.

From Brisbane, JL