The imperious figure of Steve Waugh and a memorable cameo from Stuart MacGill conspired to pull the rug from underneath England on day three of the fourth Ashes Test at the MCG on Monday.

At the end of a remarkable day extended to almost eight hours to compensate for the first day washout and England's poor over rate, England went to stumps 2-65, still five runs short of Australia's total.

The dashing Waugh found an ally in MacGill to torment the England attack and steer Australia to a healthy, if unlikely, first innings lead of 70. Waugh (122 not out) played with controlled aggression to blast his 17th Test century while MacGill (43) scored his highest first-class score as the pair added 88 runs for the ninth wicket to guide Australia to 340 in reply to England's 270.

The shellshocked Englishmen then promptly made a disastrous start to their second innings when opener Michael Atherton (0) was clean bowled by Damien Fleming in the second over.

Atherton, who was dismissed by Glenn McGrath with the fifth ball of the first innings, this time lasted until the 11th ball before Fleming squared him up and knocked back his off-stump. But just as Alec Stewart and Mark Butcher seemed likely to steer the tourists safely to stumps, Michael Slater intervened with a truly miraculous catch at short leg. MacGill bowled a long hop which Butcher belted straight at Slater, who was turning away and ducking for cover. Somehow the ball hit Slater in the belly, where it lodged, to the amazement of the MCG crowd.

Again England will pin their hopes on first innings centurion Stewart, who continued his defiant mood by racing to 43, with nightwatchman Dean Headley yet to score.

Earlier, Waugh was at his attacking best, smashing the bowling through his favoured cover region early on, before improvising with one-day style shots as he began to run out of partners in search of his second ton of the series. But he need not have worried as MacGill, despite a nervous start when he was troubled by Darren Gough, grew in confidence and followed Waugh's lead by carting the England bowlers to all corners of the MCG.

MacGill's thrilling 63-ball dig ended when he edged Alan Mullally (3-64) to keeper Warren Hegg, and Glenn McGrath followed two balls later when he played a rearing delivery from the left-armer onto his stumps, but it was too little too late.

Waugh, cheered off by 45,000 delirious fans, transformed the match by also sharing valuable lower-order partnerships of 58 with Ian Healy and 26 with Fleming to rescue Australia from a precarious 5-151. And to cap his memorable day, he also became the fifth Australian batsmen to pass 7000 runs in Tests when he scored 43.

After resuming at 2-59, the Australians lost six wickets in the first two sessions with Gough (5-96) turning his luckless summer around by claiming his fifth five-wicket haul in Tests. After snaring the wickets of Australian openers Mark Taylor and Slater late on day two, Gough seemed to have swung the pendulum in England's favour when he enticed Justin Langer and Darren Lehmann into loose shots.

However, it was recalled paceman Angus Fraser (2-78) who made the initial breakthrough when he removed the dangerous Mark Waugh in the extended first session. Waugh (36) looked in superb touch until he was dubiously adjudged lbw by umpire Daryl Harper to a Fraser delivery that seemed to be slipping down leg side.

Langer (44) toiled for 108 minutes in the morning, adding just 18 runs to his overnight score, before he slashed a wide Gough delivery to Nasser Hussain in the gully. And Lehmann soon joined his fellow left-hander in the pavilion when he played a similar shot off Gough, but managed only to nick the ball to Hegg.

Fraser then settled England's nerves momentarily when he broke an ominous-looking partnership between Healy and Steve Waugh. Healy (36) had scored the lion's share of the runs in his stand with Waugh, before lifting Fraser to Headley at deep backward square leg, to ease the fears they were about to repeat their 187-run partnership in the first Test at the Gabba.

Australia's predicament could have been even deeper except for Graeme Hick at second slip giving Fleming (12) a life off Headley before he had scored, but Hick redeemed himself somewhat when he later snaffled an ankle-high chance off Mullally. Matthew Nicholson (5) strode out to the crease in his Test debut, but departed ingloriously as a searing Gough yorker caused him to lose his footing, and his leg stump bail, on the last ball before tea

© 1998 CricInfo/ninemsn