Australia v England - 4th Test, Day 3

Lunch - England all out 513 (Trott 168x, Prior 85. Siddle 6-75)

Australia had their best session of the Test match as England were content to take whatever runs they could and gradually build their lead. The wickets fell at the start and end of the session and again it was Peter Siddle who did the damage.

Siddle started with Harris and whilst Harris was breaking down and having to leave the MCG with an ankle injury likely to rume him out of the 5th Test, Siddle fooled Prior into a lofted drive to Ponting at mid on and then found Brensnan's edge to Haddin. Then, with a Pfieffer in the bag and a spell of just 2-12 off five overs, Ponting inexplicably removed Siddle for the next hour whilst Johnson went for plenty and Hilfenhaus kept it tight.

All the while, Jonathan Trott didn't seem to be bothered whether he faced, scored runs or generally took part. Has their every been a more unflustered Englishman?

Hilfenhaus finally had some luck when Swann took a crazy swing at a short ball and Haddin held an excellent catch high above his outstretched frame. Reverse swing accounted for Tremlett and Hilfenhaus had doubled his wicket tally for the series. Siddle, finally invited back to the bowling crease, finished the English innings an hour later than was necessary when he bowled Anderson.

Australia will start their second innings 415 behind it what could only be looked at as an impossibility with the Ashes on the line.

This Session: Australia
Sessions This Test: England 4, Australia 2, Shared 1
Sessions This Series: England 22, Australia 15, Shared 6

Tea - Australia 1-95 (Watson 50, Ponting 19)

Another session to Australia and a good start in the quest to perform the impossible and save this Test. Hughes and Watson started brightly and within nine overs Anderson and Tremlett had been relieved and 50 was on the board. In charge, the openers their conceived a disaster as Watson pushed a ball to Trott, short in the covers, took off and starnded Hughes when Trott's throw was as accurate as you would expect from that range.

Ponting came in to a heroes welcome and with accusations and apologies still fresh. It took fifteen deliveries before he was underway and a second scoring shot didn't happen for another ten balls. Cautious and still prone to all the areas England has exposed he set himself for the long haul but was still regularly hit on the pads making Strauss think hard about reviews and that bat still angled down and across outside off stump.

Watson at the other end survived an edge which just failed to carry to Prior but otherwise stroked the ball well, especially his drives.

Bresnan bowled an excellent seven over spell which gave up only two scoring strokes and along with Anderson, was reversing the ball inside 20 overs.

A great start for Australia but a long, long way to go until the safety of the harbour welcomes them.

This Session: Australia
Sessions This Test: England 4, Australia 3, Shared 1
Sessions This Series: England 22, Australia 16, Shared 6

Stumps - Australia 6-169 (Haddin 11, Johnson 6. Bresnan 3-26)

The work that had been done to create hope among Australian supporters was dashed quickly after tea in four overs by Tim Bresnan. Bowling in tandem with Swann, Bresnan had dried the runs up before tea and in the first over after the resumption, Watson had square driven him confidently before shouldering arms and handing over his wicket. This is not uncommon for Watson who is out lbw more often than any other mode of dismissal in Test cricket (34%) but to do so without playing a shot seems beyond comprehension.

Ponting, so full of concentration in an effort to reverse a summer which has finally disappointed him after the love affair he has enjoyed for so many years with the glaring sun and hard sun-scorched wickets and a public which forgave any human flaws. His disbelief, as he stood in front of a castle he helped Bresnan tear down with an inside edge, became an awful reality. Hussey lasted only 8 balls before pushing an uppish drive to Bell who held a sharp catch at short cover and Australia's constant saviour this summer was gone without scoring.

At the other end, Swann was wheeling down maidens and was unlucky not to claim Clarke when he danced down the track and both he and Prior missed it but he didn't have to wait that long for a return from the same source. Andrew Strauss moved himself into a second slip, Swann went around the wicket and Clarke edged into Strauss' hands just two balls later.

Smith played a good hand, playing his shots when there were none on offer from a frugal England, with his unusual mixture of the unorthodox but his runs only came against the faster men. Eventually, this bright light of the afternoon was snuffed out when he hooked at a returning Anderson on the front foot and played on. Anderson looked exhausted.

In a long session, Swann finally gave way after bowling for more than two hours and taking 1-18 in a seventeen over spell, as Bresnan came back to try and finish it.

News that Harris has a broken ankle almost certainly means that Australia will bat one man short. The caterers may be lucky to be needed for lunch tomorrow.

This Session: England
Sessions This Test: England 5, Australia 3, Shared 1
Sessions This Series: England 23, Australia 16, Shared 6