James Anderson backs England to take inspiration from their final-day heroics against Australia in the opening Ashes Test.

Last pair Anderson and Monty Panesar defied Australia's bowlers for 69 balls to secure a draw for the hosts at Cardiff and keep them level in the series heading into the second Test at Lord's on Thursday.

"It was a tricky last couple of overs"

"It is huge for us. To go to Lord's in a couple of days now still level in the series is a massive boost for us," Anderson told Sky Sports 1.

"It was a tricky last couple of overs. We played fantastic and Colly (Paul Collingwood) was absolutely awesome. I'm just glad to get out of it with a draw."

Collingwood was the mainstay of the innings, facing 245 balls for his 74, before he was caught by Mike Hussey at gully off Peter Siddle with 45 minutes to play.

At that point England looked doomed until the last pair held firm and Panesar, who Collingwood has taken under his wing as a batting buddy this summer, praised his mentor for his efforts.

"It's amazing what he did today. He made a fantastic contribution to us drawing the game," Panesar said.

"He's been throwing me balls and working really hard with me on my batting and it has paid off today."

"Collingwood was outstanding"

England captain Andrew Strauss admitted his side were "very, very thankful" to come away with a draw and praised Collingwood for his gritty defiance.

The hosts looked destined to go 1-0 down in the series when they slumped to 46 for four early in the day when Strauss edged off-spinner Nathan Hauritz behind and soon after key man Kevin Pietersen was bowled without playing a shot to Ben Hilfenhaus.

"All day we were not quite in the contest. We lost wickets early on but all credit must go to Paul Collingwood - he was outstanding," Strauss said.

"He does it time and time again for us in pressure situations. I can't say enough good things about him.

Strauss focuses on Lord's

"Also we have to mention Jimmy and Monty. The batsmen shouldn't have let them get in that position, but they showed a lot of character.

"To be fair they kept their heads and in a pressure situation that is hard to do. We are proud of them and we are proud to get a draw but we are also aware that we have a lot of work to do between now and the second Test.

"Thankfully we got away with it and hopefully we can come out and do better at Lord's.

"We've not given away too much momentum, which is important in back-to-back Tests. We are just very, very thankful to get a draw and we can take pride in the fight we showed."

"I have a bitter-sweet taste in my mouth"

Australia captain Ricky Ponting was frustrated at his side's inability to grab the final wicket and an early lead in the series.

"I am disappointed we didn't win the game, I thought we played well enough over the five days," he said.

"But I am still really proud of the boys. We can take a lot of heart out of the game although we came up a bit short in the end. Give England credit as well.

"There are four Tests to go and we will have to play at this level if we want to win the series."

Ponting was named man of the match for his wonderful 150 in Australia's first innings but he admitted to having mixed feeling afterwards.

He added: "It was nice to be able to turn it on when the team needed it. I am happy with the way things went with the bat but I have a bitter-sweet taste in my mouth."

Ponting livid at delaying tactics

Collingwood was characteristically understated after the match and while admitting England had done well to save the Test, warned his team-mates they must improve with the second Test just four days away.

"It was important to try and keep some momentum. Thankfully it is still 0-0 but we know we have got to be better on Thursday," he said.

"We can take a lot of confidence out of this game. We showed great character and heart, there is a lot of passion in that dressing room so we can take alot from this."

Collingwood fell just 45 minutes short of batting through the day and admitted when he fell to Siddle, via a juggled catch from Hussey, he thought the game might be lost.

"I knew what I had to do in that situation and that was to bat for three sessions," he added.

"It is a difficult thing to do and in the end I probably gave my wicket away which was disappointing.

"In the end it was close, closer than we would have hoped for and at one point we looked dead, but the boys at the end did well.

"There are some happy people in that dressing room now. Realistically though we know we have to improve for Thursday."