<p>Australia's Brad Haddin rated the England bowling as the toughest he had faced in Test cricket after he and Mike Hussey put their side into a strong position in the Ashes opener on Saturday.<br /><br />  <table style="width: 149px; height: 42px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="149" align="right" border="1">  <tbody>  <tr>  <td><img alt="" src="/imagedata/2010/nov/28haddin.jpg" border="0" /></td></tr>  <tr>  <td>  <p align="center"><span style="font-size: 8pt">Australia's Brad Haddin</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table>Hussey registered his highest Test score of 195 and Haddin contributed 136 in a Gabba record stand of 307 runs to take Australia to a 221-run innings lead on the third day. By the close, England had reduced the deficit to 202, finishing on 19 without loss at stumps.<br /><br />The Australian pair had to negotiate a testing period in the morning before coming through to build their match-turning sixth-wicket stand.<br /><br />"The first hour and a half was probably the hardest Test bowling I've ever had to face," said Haddin, playing in his 28th Test match.<br /><br />"It was a pretty conscious effort to make sure we got through that unscathed and hopefully at the back end of that we might be able to get on top of the bowling and bat with a bit more freedom. But that first period was the toughest Test cricket you can get with James Anderson and Stuart Broad bowling."<br /><br />The pair's 398-minute partnership trumped the previous Gabba record of 276 between Don Bradman and Lindsay Hassett for the third wicket against England in 1946-47. </p>

Australia's Brad Haddin rated the England bowling as the toughest he had faced in Test cricket after he and Mike Hussey put their side into a strong position in the Ashes opener on Saturday

Haddin: Toughest first session I've ever faced

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Haddin: Toughest first session I've ever faced

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