Former England captain Nasser Hussain has accused batsman Ian Bell of letting his teammates down after his poor display against Australia on the opening day of The Ashes.

The 31-year-old scored just 25 runs in a short spell at the crease after he was caught out by Shane Watson from Peter Siddle's bowling as the hosts were knocked out for 215.

Hussain feels that a more experienced player such as Bell should have done better during his time with the bat.

"Certainly Alastair Cook did the right thing at the toss. It was a no-brainer. With a wicket as dry as this, England had to bat, as Australia would also have done because you have to think about both ends of the match," Hussain told the Daily Mail. "There will be spin as the Test goes on and the pitch may also start to go up and down as the cracks widen.

"The decision was right but much of the batting was wrong. I'm afraid we have seen too many instances in recent times of England batsmen getting themselves in and getting themselves out again. This was no exception. They just have to make their starts count a lot better than this.

"Ian Bell was the chief culprit. He has been around long enough now to know that this is not good enough. Bell has to sit down, have a long look at himself and vow to play a lot tighter."

Play resumes at 11am at Trent Bridge for day two of the first Test on Thursday.