Alastair Cook scored an unbeaten 235 and shared a 329-run partnership with Jonathan Trott to highlight an emphatic England second innings as the first Ashes test against

Australia ended in a draw Monday

Set an unlikely 297 runs to win after England declared at 517-1 shortly before tea on the final day, Australia reached 107-1 in reply with captain Ricky Ponting not out on 51

and Shane Watson on 41.

Simon Katich (4) was the lone batsman to be dismissed Monday, nicking Stuart Broad to Andrew Strauss at first slip in the sixth over of Australia's reply.

Cook's man of the match-winning knock was the highest ever test score at the Gabba ground, surpassing Donald Brahman's 226 in 1931. Trott left the crease on 135 not out, his

second Ashes century in two tests.

Cook, who came into the series with his position far from secure, scored more runs in the England second innings than he managed on his whole Ashes tour of 2006-07 and earned

fulsome praise from his captain.

"I'm not great on my cricketing history but I'd be hard-pressed to think of a better innings in Australia," Strauss said. "It must have been a long time ago, the last guy who

batted as well as Cookie."

Cook's innings, his highest test score, saw him become just the fourth Englishman to score a double hundred in Australia, following R.E. Foster, Wally Hammond and Paul

Collingwood.

Cook and Trott's second-wicket stand was the highest England partnership in Australia, surpassing Jack Hobbs' and Wilfred Rhodes' 323 in 1912.

"Trott has been in outstanding form for us over the English summer and we all expected him to play well this series as well," Strauss said. "That would have given him confidence

and he's a bit of a lynchpin for us at No.3, and hopefully he'll get more runs for us as well."

The test only briefly appeared likely to end with a result on a pitch that got better for batting as the match went on and saw Australia's Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin score

centuries on the third day, and England captain Strauss pass 100 on Sunday.

After a first innings of 481 that left it 221 runs ahead, Australia failed to capitalize and could manage just one wicket from 152 overs of England's second innings.

Strauss said things had looked "quite bleak" for England halfway through the match, before the batting heroics in the second innings.

"The resilience to come back into the game, having been in a pretty dire position after day three, speaks volumes for the characters of the likes of Cookie and Trotty, and we've

proved over a while now that we're a hard side to beat and that gives us more confidence going forward."

Peter Siddle got six wickets to dismiss England for 260 in the first innings, but Ponting said the pitch became increasingly difficult for the bowlers.

"We didn't bowl particularly well as a group by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a difficult wicket to bowl on in the last couple of days of this game. I think

(England) found it pretty tough as well this afternoon," Ponting said.

"I've never played on a Gabba wicket like that in my whole career," he said. "How slow it was in the first two days was very foreign to me."

Watson bowled well Monday, but was not supported in the field as Michael Clarke dropped Trott while on 75 and Ponting put down Cook on 209.

"We dropped four or five chances in the second innings, that's not acceptable either," Ponting said. "A couple were tough ones, but we needed to hang onto these chances if we

were going to have any chance of doing winning.

"There are a few areas we need to work on and we're very aware what they are."

The Australian captain was at the center of a controversial moment when Cook, at 209, hit a Xavier Doherty ball to him at short mid-wicket. It seemed that Ponting had caught the

ball just above the ground but Aleem Dar did not give it out and television replays were too inconclusive to allow the third umpire to dismiss the England opener.

Paceman Mitchell Johnson continued to struggle, conceding 39 runs from his nine overs Monday, including five wides down the leg-side. He allowed 170 runs in the test without

taking a wicket, failed to score a run and dropped a catch, and his place in the side could be in jeopardy with Doug Bollinger in line to take his place for the second test in

Adelaide on Friday.

Although Doherty is likely to get a second chance on a spinner's wicket, he posed little threat despite the occasional prodigious turning delivery.

The only worry for England going into the second test may come from talismanic spinner Graeme Swann, who ended the game with figures of 2-161.