Close - England 80 for 1 (Trescothick 55*, Butcher 10*) It was a day of sweaty leather-chasing at The Oval, with Australia racking up 641 for 4 and England - or rather Marcus Trescothick - replying positively to reach 80 for 1 by stumps. They still needed another 362 to avoid the follow-on, which ought to be enough to save the match. But on a pitch that has already offered Shane Warne biting turn, that will not be easy.

England were helped in their reply by Australia's six slips, who obligingly left gaps all over the park. And Trescothick found them with a sequence of punchy drives and thumping cuts, taking six boundaries off three overs from Jason Gillespie and forcing him out of the attack with figures of 4-0-35-0.

Mike Atherton looked as if he would drop anchor, but was beaten by a mini-wonderball from Warne that hissed past his outside edge and into off stump to leave England 58 for 1. Warne was unlucky not to take a second wicket when he beat Mark Butcher with a big leg break that might have gone on to hit off stump; umpire Willey was less sure.

Trescothick got to his half-century off only 49 balls when he squirted a Brett Lee full-toss through point for four, then lashed Ricky Ponting's first ball for four too. He could yet continue his record of making centuries only when England lose: the tally is two so far.

Earlier, Australia added 317 runs in 70 overs to record the seventh-highest Test total ever made at The Oval. Their total revolved around a third-wicket stand of 197 between the Waugh twins, Chalk and Cheese. Both made centuries, but while Mark caressed, stroked and persuaded his way to his 20th Test ton, Steve Waugh battled grim-faced and limping to his 27th - and then to 157 not out. The innings served as a microcosm of two long and glorious careers.

Mark was dropped in the opening over of the day, when he had 50, by Mark Butcher at second slip. And he punished England to the tune of 70 extra runs - a lot of them off the ineffectual Phil Tufnell, including one almost-ugly six over long-on.

Steve's innings was made up of four distinct phases. His only scoring shots in the first 17 overs of the day were three boundaries, but either side of lunch he tucked into Tufnell, moving to 50 with a six over long-off, and gorged on Gough, cutting and slashing him through point twice in an over. Then there was the slow march to his hundred: reduced to hobbling between the wickets, Waugh spent 12 overs moving from 96 to 100 ("I got it in singles, mate"). Finally, there was catharsis as Waugh hit out at everything either side of tea. When he called a halt to the massacre, Waugh walked off to a standing ovation; memories of Trent Bridge and that stretcher were light years away.

The twins' hundreds took Australia's Test ton tally this summer to nine. England have so far made just one: Mark Butcher's 173 not out at Headingley, which has been the highest of the series.

As yesterday, England did take two wickets. Mark Waugh was bowled by Gough for 120 attempting an expansive shot through the off side (489 for 3), while Adam Gilchrist whacked Usman Afzaal's third ball in Tests straight to cover for 25 to make it 534 for 4. Thereafter Damien Martyn helped himself to the scraps of England's attack to make 64 not out at better than a run a ball. It was one-way traffic of the most brutal kind.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden Online

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