4.53pm: Play has been abandoned, Australia's openers won't have to brave the murk tonight - no silver lining in the Brisbane clouds for England, who miss out on an opportunity to salvage something from a sorry first day of the series. The Ashes are underway, and Postman Pat has delivered for Australia in his first day in the job as Test captain. Stick around for Alex's report, as well as the usual analysis, #PoliteEnquiries, etc. We'll be back tomorrow/tonight (depending on your timezone), when play will start half an hour early to make up time. Cheerio!

4.50pm: Sounds like they are now off for bad light... which doesn't bode well for restarting in the next 10 minutes. Opportunity for the England players to pay tribute to one of the minor notes of 2005 and all walk out wearing sunglasses?

Pari: "Instead of licking their lips for the overcast conditions , England are left with licking their wounds at the end of the day." That's about the size of it

4.35pm: Hello again, folks. We await further updates from the Gabba, with the 5pm cut-off looming. Not sure how long we can go on until if they do get on before then. Sit tight

"Just woken up in England to come down to this. I should have known. AWFUL." It's not too late to go back to bed, John

Nate reckons the signs are positive: "At the game. Covers getting packed away. Game on!!!"

And here's Tasmeem: "I don't know why the English fans are bemoaning the exclusion of Broad. Literally no one is better than Chris Woakes in damp and overcast condition. He has the best average among the English bowlers while bowling at home. Not that getting all out for 147 is gonna help much."

4.20pm: More conversations between the umpires and the groundstaff. Still pretty murky overhead but the covers have been peeled back for the time being. The suggestion is that we should be able to get back on within 30 minutes if there's no more rain - though it does look very dark overhead with some more showers around. "The umpires will have another look in 10 minutes' time," Alex Malcolm tells me. "Light and outfield seems a problem."

Jens: "Ooh these conditions look perfect for Jimmy and Broa... Jack Leach"

Dave: "Ah, Gabba drainage reflections. Should be its own genre"

James: "Still remember the first game of the 2013-14 Ashes. A thunderstorm stopped play on the fourth afternoon with England struggling, and the English hoped for a brief moment that rain had come to save them... Nope, they were back out on the field a couple of hours later and the game didn't even last into the fifth day. The Gabba drains exceptionally well, I'd say the odds of getting more play today are quite a bit better than 50/50."

"Pretty crazy... it's all gone to plan so far," Pat Cummins tells BT about his first day as captain. "Really proud of all the guys. [Toss] I was probably going to have a bat. I genuinely wasn't upset and we made the most of it. [Pitch] It's a little bit soft. You're always in the game on the morning of Day 1. It got a little bit quicker after lunch but the ball got a little bit softer. It's a pretty standard Gabba wicket. [Starc] Really happy for him, he really held the attack together. [Root match-up] I feel like I've bowled well to him in the past and thought I'd have a crack. [Five-for] The body felt decent. I've bowled better before and haven't got as many rewards. I kept it tight and got the ball up there."

4pm: Quick conversation between the umpires and Pat Cummins. Not impossible that we'll get a short window of play this evening. Word is that it has stopped raining but we'll wait and see what the news is from the clean-up operation. Reiffel and Tucker are wandering around the wet patches on the edge of the covers but the drainage should be good enough that they're not a huge issue.

Dave: "Fading light, super humid, damp outfield, short sharp session... Sounds like a real batting delight. Cummins telling umpires he has a bus waiting?"

3.52pm: The rain has eased off a little bit... but the umpires are chatting to the groundstaff with their umbrellas still up.

Rob in Sydney: "One thing about the Gabba... it drains ridiculously well. We were at an AFL game there during the winter, where during the first half there were literally puddles all over the ground. Then the rain stopped at half time and the 2nd half was played in almost perfect conditions. Incredible."

Mickey: "I am about 20 Ks from the Gabba - the weather moved through here about 20 minutes ago and it's getting clear and bright here."

3.40pm: Still looks miserable and wet at the Gabba. Steady rain with the full covers on, and plenty of standing water on the outfield. Meanwhile, in the UK, BT Sport are showing a pre-recorded segment with England players - led by Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson - talking about how excited they are for the series ahead....

Peter S: "Is it too late to say this is a game of snooker? England making a maximum break in the first frame. Great start."

Sukrit Gupta: "Don't know which team has a worse test batting lineup. England or Bangladesh?" - Small mercy for England that they won't be following on...

Hoges: "Shane Warne is doubtless casting aspersions at Starc's crosswording ability during the rain break."

Jimmy: "Crossword solution (3,7): Don Bradman. You soon learn that whatever the clue, the answer is always Don Bradman."

Karen: "Welcome to an Australian La Nina summer, where we'd like to play cricket but we grit our teeth and accept that we cannot really complain about the rain because we remember that it was only the start of last year that we were burning, burning, burning..."

Asher: "@Kevin Maybe if Vince wasn't hiding himself down at 5 for Hampshire and throwing less experienced blokes up to face the new Dukes in the top 4 he might have impressed England more"

Harry: "Yeah thanks Matt. I'm sure Cricket Australia have a look at the forecast a day out from a test and decide to move it. Bit more goes into it champ"

Matt: "FYI Cricket Australia. Perth forecast is 40, 34, 25, 25 and 27 with no rain for the 5 days of the Brisbane test. Wonder if was worth investigating swapping the order of the series?" -- Don't think England or the broadcasters would have agreed to the draconian quarantine rules in WA.

Mike: "Crossword joke: 6 down, overworked postman. How many letters? Bloody loads of them!"

Kevin: "Funny isn't it. Zak Crawley despite averaging 11 is in the squad, but Vince doesn't get a recall. Good for James he's playing Big bash"

3.20pm: Absolutely lashing it down at the moment. Lots of standing water on the edge of the square spread across some huge puddles. Even if it stops now - and there's no indication that it will - the groundstaff will struggle to get the ground into playable condition again tonight. Talk amongst yourselves...

Brisbane Fan: "Local radar says.... no more play today England. Back to your hotel and lick your wounds."

Goutham: "Why isn't Zak Crawley playing? Is he rested as part of the rotation?" -- Err, no. Dropped after averaging 11.14 in 14 innings this year.

Looks like there's a crossword being solved in the Australian dressing room. George Bailey, Steve Smith and David Warner were crowded around in, and now Captain Cummins is having a go at 18 across: Took five-wicket haul in first Test leading Australia (3,7)

What would England give to have Jofra Archer fit and available in this series? He's in the UK for some scans on his elbow and has been talking to Channel 7 during the interval. "This is one tour as a fast bowler that you really don't want to miss," he said. "The results came back yesterday and it was quite promising, actually - everything is moving forward nicely. It's just a matter of waiting a little bit more and being a little bit more patient because I'm almost at the end of the road. I don't think any team would be planning to be all out before the end of play but hopefully the luck can go both ways and we can have them two or three down." Ricky Ponting is in their studio and jokes that he'll be hoping to get hold of Archer in the IPL auction, which draws a wry smile...

3pm: Looks like the rain has set in now, with all of the covers on. Very dark overhead and very windy, too. Could be terminal... delayed start to the evening session.

Martin: "I'm a few km from the Gabba and it's absolutely bucketing down."

Meanwhile, Australia A have named a team for their fixture against England Lions, which starts tomorrow. Judging by Instagram, most of the Lions squad are at the Gabba today.

Australia A: Bryce Street, Henry Hunt, Matt Renshaw, Nic Maddinson (capt), Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis (wk), Michael Neser, Mitchell Swepson, Mark Steketee, Scott Boland.

2.55pm: Dark clouds around, covers on, and Glenn McGrath has his umbrella up pitchside in anticipation. He reckons that once it starts to rain, that'll be it for the opening day. Looks pretty blustery!

2.42pm: Brutal from Australia, reasserting their credentials at the Gabbatoir. That will be tea, but not much sympathy for England. They only managed one partnership of note, with Jos Buttler's counterpunching 39 the top score - an innings of a team lacking in preparation, perhaps, but nowhere near enough to put Australia under pressure. Cummins becomes the first captain to take a five-for in an Ashes Test since Bob Willis in 1982-83 - and the 14th in his first match in the job, a feat achieved most recently by Rashid Khan. He's had a dream day so far. Time for him to put his feet up and hope the home batters can put on a better showing - the wind's got up around the ground, with tea being taken, but we should be good to restart in about 15 mins