Stuart Broad slammed the Edgbaston surface as "soulless" and described it as one of the slowest he has encountered in England after Usman Khawaja's unbeaten century dragged Australia back into the contest and left the first Ashes Test finely poised.

Broad lit up the morning session on Saturday, dismissing David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne off consecutive balls, but then struggled with the rest of the pace attack as England were punished for errors while Australia racked up the runs.

Khawaja was bowled by Broad 112, before replays showed the seamer had overstepped. It was one of 13 no-balls from England, with Broad sending down six.

"How can I be polite? It's a very slow, low surface that saps the energy out of the ball," Broad said. "It's pretty characterless so far, pretty soulless, but you can only judge a surface towards the end of the match and see how it develops.

"It's really frustrating. I'm not really a big no-ball bowler. I probably bowled more no-balls today (Saturday) than I have in a Test match before.

Captain Ben Stokes had asked for "flat, fast wickets" for the series but the Edgbaston pitch has been on the slow side.

"Hopefully, it's not a trend for the whole series," Broad said. "It's certainly one of the slowest pitches I can remember bowling on in England. It's been hard work for the seamers and ultimately we are looking to entertain, have fun and get the crowd jumping. It's quite a difficult pitch to get plays-and-misses on and nicks to slip on."

Moeen fined

Moeen Ali was fined 25 per cent of his match fee for "spaying a drying agent" on his bowling hand on Day II of the opening Ashes Test.

"Ali was found to have breached Article 2.20 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to displaying conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game," said the ICC in a statement.

Reuters, PTI