Why Starc is so good with the pink ball - Finn

And so, to Brisbane. The Gabba.

The gladiatorial stadium stands between England and parity in the Ashes series.

The Gabba is not a happy hunting ground for England - they have not won in Brisbane since 1986 - and it will take all of their resolve, stubbornness and togetherness in order to change that record.

There is also the added challenge of the pink ball and how much Australia quick Mitchell Starc - player of the match for his 10 wickets in the first Test - loves bowling with it.

Starc will be coming into this Test full of confidence. As if he needed it, given his returns using the bright pink projectile. He is the best pink-ball bowler in the world.

The left-armer has taken 81 wickets in 14 day-night Tests, including five five-wicket hauls.

In traditional red-ball matches, Starc's bowling average is 28.97 and his strike-rate is 49.9. In pink-ball matches, those numbers drop dramatically to 17.08 and 33.3 respectively.

Picking the ball up out of the hand will be crucial for England this week, especially given how much faster Starc bowls with a pink ball.

Ordinarily, 69% of his deliveries are in excess of 87mph. When Starc bowls with a pink ball, that rises to 82%. His average speed of 89mph is the highest of any bowler to have taken a wicket in a day-night Test.

Starc does not swing the pink ball more than the red. In fact, he swings a new red ball more than a new pink one.

However, Starc keeps the pink ball swinging for longer. He gets more movement in the air in his second, third and fourth spells with a pink ball than he does with a red. His bowling average with a pink ball actually comes down after his first spell.

Starc's natural full length is also a big weapon with the pink ball. In Australia, deliveries pitching between 3-6m from the batter average 37.55 runs per wicket with a red ball. That drops to 19.53 with a pink one.

High pace, full length and swing for longer is the perfect combination of attributes for Starc to be so successful in day-night conditions.

If this was not enough, Starc's 10-wicket performance in the first Test suggested he has taken his game to a new level, even at the age of 35.

England struggled to pick the difference between Starc's intention to swing the ball or hit a wobbling seam.

A batter can sometimes distinguish a bowler's intention from small signals. It might be something in the run-up, the action, or how they are holding the ball.

Starc does not seem to give any clues. As far as I could see, the only indication comes when he meticulously places the ball in his fingertips at the end of his run-up. That is around 50m away from the batter. It might be something that is easy to pick up watching on TV, but far harder for the man actually attempting to hit the ball.

If this wasn't hard enough, the black seam on a pink ball is more difficult for a batter to spot than the white seam on a red ball. Put simply, Starc's tiny clues will be given even greater camouflage by the pink ball.

Even Australia batter Steve Smith, one of the best players in the world, is adapting his equipment in an attempt to deal with the glare off the pink ball. He is wearing the black patches under his eyes that were a trademark of West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Attempting to decipher why Starc is so successful with the pink ball is helped by an understanding of what it is like to play in these matches.

I played one pink-ball match, for Middlesex away to Essex in the County Championship in 2017.

We didn't make the most of the initial evening period we had with the ball, then got the rough end of conditions. I was carted around Chelmsford as Alastair Cook made 193, so I have bad memories.

One thing sticks in my mind. I was standing at third slip in the twilight, when Nick Browne, on 40, edged one towards me at head-height.

It felt like a comet was flashing towards me, followed by a bright pink tail. Completely rushed, I tipped it over the bar and away for four. Browne went on to make 221.

Later in the game, we were trying to escape with a draw by batting through the final session under the lights. It was like trying to find a pink version of the Golden Snitch.

I was the last wicket to fall, lbw playing no shot to an arm ball from off-spinner Simon Harmer. It felt like a dodgy decision, yet the fact is I couldn't pick him.

Anyone who saw me bat might not be surprised to hear I couldn't pick Harmer, but it was all the more difficult because of the pink ball.

There is still hope for England. After four sessions of the first Test, they were 99 runs ahead with nine second-innings wickets remaining.

The capitulation that happened from that point will leave a sour taste in everyone's mouths, none more so than the players.

However, given the pink ball seems harder to see and the faster you bowl it, seemingly the more effective you are, it leaves England well placed to make the most of the talent at their disposal.

England's quickest bowler, Mark Wood, played one pink-ball Test on the last Ashes tour four years ago and took nine wickets in the match, proving a menace throughout.

He isn't available this week, but England will still have Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse - all capable of bowling over 90mph - in their XI, while captain Ben Stokes can exceed 85mph.

The eye-catching display in Australia's first innings was the most sustained spell of 'fast' bowling I've seen from an England attack.

There were former Australia internationals remarking how impressed they were by England's bowling, and writers sharpening their knives for an evisceration of the home team.

If the England bowlers can find the same hostility, pace and skill in Brisbane, there is no doubt they can cause Australia big problems.

Can England go toe-to-toe with Starc? If he recaptures the rhythm and confidence he showed in Perth, he could be Australia's match-winner once again.

He must go to bed dreaming of bowling with a pink ball.