England's Ian Bell plays a shot during the fifth and final Ashes cricket Test match against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday. - REUTERS

SYDNEY (Reuters):

England batsman Ian Bell experienced mixed emotions after making a battling 71 on the first day of the final Ashes Test yesterday.

Bell's dogged knock helped England reach a respectable 234 for four, but he was bowled by a fine delivery from Glenn McGrath to miss out on a century for the fourth time in the series after passing 50.

"There is a little bit of frustration but I got a pretty decent delivery so I can't grumble too much," Bell told a news conference.

"McGrath bowled really well today, there was a bit in the wicket all day and we had to really work hard and graft for our runs."

Bell batted over three hours for his 71 runs but said that was mainly down to the quality of bowling by the experienced McGrath, playing his final Test, and fellow seamer Stuart Clark.

"They didn't give us a lot to hit and you have to give credit to Australia for bowling really well," the 24-year-old said.

"McGrath is all about patience, he just tests out your technique all the time.

"I'm sure it didn't look pretty but that's what you have to do sometimes."

The right-hander still managed to hit eight fours, mainly with crisp strokes off his legs, before McGrath nipped a ball back off the pitch to bowl him through the gate.

DANGERS

"I knew what he was trying to do to me and he got me in the end I guess," Bell said. "I felt it was a good wicket for leaving the ball but the one that got me I was trying to play."

Australia coach John Buchanan has warned his players about the dangers of letting their emotions get the better of them after they made a jittery start.

With the Ashes already safely back in Australia's hands, the fifth Test has become a grand farewell to three of the country's greatest players, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer, who are all retiring from Test cricket after the match.

Australia's players have made a pledge to send their teammates out on a winning note by completing their first 5-0 series whitewash of England in 86 years.

But Buchanan, who is also overseeing his last Test in charge of Australia before standing down after the World Cup, said the players had to be careful not to let their emotions take over.

"We discussed it before the match but they're a professional lot and they know there's still a job to be done," Buchanan told a news conference after the first day.

"There's a fifth Test match to be won here and we'd all like to be a part of that and we certainly wouldn't want to walk away not having played well due to the fact that we're all basically overcome with emotion.

"The outpouring of emotions will occur at the end of the game but in the meantime we've got a fair bit of cricket to play."

Buchanan said the honours were evenly shared. Ian Bell (71) shared a 108-run partnership with Kevin Pietersen (41) but McGrath dismissed them both in the space of four balls to reduce the tourists to 167-4 before Andrew Flintoff (42 not out) and Paul Collingwood (25 not out) added 67 by the close.

"I think it's about even. We'd have loved to have taken one or two more wickets and possibly England would have liked to have score another 20 or 30 runs," Buchanan said. "I think the game is evenly poised but with the new ball due tomorrow that's going to be a crucial time for both teams."