England's hopes of ending 15 years of Ashes disappointment look doomed after one day of the series and with Glamorgan fast bowler Simon Jones suffering a serious injury as Australia piled up an imposing total.

The hosts finished the first day at The Gabba on a daunting 364-2 with Ricky Ponting scoring 123 and Matthew Hayden unbeaten on 186 after England captain Nasser Hussain amazingly decided to field after winning the toss.

But the day was dominated by the loss of Jones, who claimed England's only wicket before being stretchered off after suffering a ruptured cruciate ligament injury while fielding.

He faces six months on the sidelines.

Because of the nature of his injury Jones is unable to fly back for a fortnight and will spend the next two weeks in Australia at the Academy.

But Glamorgan skipper Steve James has refuted suggestions Jones' career could be over and said this morning "he will bounce back."

The England fast bowler suffered his injury in a freak accident when his studs stuck in the turf as he slid to stop a boundary by Ponting.

He said later: "I'm just so gutted at the moment. I just can't believe it has happened. It's a kick in the teeth.

"I was on cloud nine. I had taken a wicket in my second over. I was bowling well at 92mph and I knew I had more in me.

"I was looking forward to bowling again after lunch when it happened.

"I was fielding at mid-on to Ponting. The ball went past me and I just went into a regulation slide. My studs caught and I landed awkwardly.

"At first it was not that painful, but I knew I had done something to my knee.

"I'm looking at six months out basically. It's going to be a lot of hard work. It's going to be a character-building experience.

"These things come to test you. But I'm determined to work my socks off to get back. I've recovered from serious injuries before so I'm backing myself to come back from this too.

"It goes through your mind incidents like this could be career-threatening, but life's too short to dwell on that." Glamorgan skipper Steve James commented: "It's the injury sportsmen fear more than most.

"The good thing these days with modern science is that you can recover from such injuries. If it happened years ago it would finish you.

"But you are talking about six months of long rehab. Sometimes you think you are not going anywhere. "I'm absolutely certain Simon will bounce back. He's a strong character, a naturally fit guy with a great physique."

Jones' father Jeff, whose England career was cut short by injury, said: "It brings it all back to me. I injured my elbow throwing in the field and it ended my career. But nowadays science and knowledge have progressed and Simon will be able to come back."