England lose Cook early, reach lunch on 36-1

MELBOURNE, Dec 26 (Reuters) England lost an early wicket before battling through to lunch on 36 for one after a rain-interrupted start to the fourth Ashes test against Australia today.

Opener Alastair Cook departed for 11 when he nicked a catch off Brett Lee to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, leaving Andrew Strauss (15 not out) and Ian Bell (seven not out) to hold out for the rest of the session.

The start of play was delayed by half an hour because of morning rain and lunch was taken 15 minutes early when the showers returned with England struggling against a hostile Australian attack.

Bell was almost run out taking a risky single to get off the mark and Strauss survived two confident lbw appeals off paceman Glenn McGrath in the last over before the heavens opened and the players scurried off the field.

Cook struck the only boundary of the morning when he drove McGrath through the offside but lost his wicket with the total on 23 when he tried to pull away from a ball off Lee that rose sharply and caught the toe of the bat.

ADDED SIGNIFICANCE England skipper Andrew Flintoff had no hesitation batting first after winning the toss despite the overhead cloud making life tough for his batsmen.

The Australian bowlers were generating plenty of movement off the seam and the ball was skidding through low while the damp outfield robbed the tourists of at least four more boundaries.

A world record crowd of around 95,000 people was expected to attend the opening day even though Australia have already regained the Ashes by winning the first three tests of the five-match series.

The match has been given added significance by the farewell of Australia's two most prolific bowlers, McGrath and leg spinner Shane Warne, who will retire from test cricket after next week's series finale in Sydney.

Warne, who led the Australian team onto the field, started the match on 699 wickets and is poised to become the first player to capture 700 test victims.

Reuters MQA VP0730