John Crawley, left on 69 not out when the England first innings came to an end in Brisbane, felt frustrated as he watched the Australians take the initiative by the end of the third day of the Brisbane Test.

"The Australians have taken the game a little bit away from us," he said. "It's slightly disappointing after the day we had yesterday dragging ourselves back into the game.

"There's still a vital morning session for the England team and we're going to have to work very hard for the rest of this game. We've got to fight way back into the game tomorrow morning.

Crawley takes heart from the fact that Shane Warne managed only wicket in the first innings. "I've not played regularly until the last six months, but over the last couple of years this team's played the major spinners of the opposition very well and a lot of that has to do with Duncan Fletcher's coaching and we can take a positive from that.

"We have to go hard in the morning and if we don't and don't get through them and claim three or four quick wickets then I think we'll be looking to try and save the game.

Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath is not so convinced about his side's superiority, being wary of England's resilience.

"I think it's been reasonably tight. There've been moments when we've dominated and England have bounced back a few times even if the score at the moment doesn't suggest that.

"It's been pretty hard work out there at certain stages. They seem to be playing a lot more confidently and they've come at us with both bat and ball.

"To lose Simon Jones like they did in the first innings was a big blow for them and to be one bowler down probably doesn't help their situation at all.

"We're not over-rating England, we'll go out there and play as well as we can. We know we'll have a tough fight every now and then and we've just got to be ready for that.

"We've got two full days to get the win now. England have done well in parts and it's shaping up to be a good Test but I think we're in the box seat at the moment."

© CricInfo

This report does not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Cricket Board.