Close England 185 and 33 for 1 trail Australia 456 (Martyn 71, Ponting 68, Waugh 53, White 5-127) by 238 runs
Scorecard

England were on their last legs after the first day at Perth, and on the second they were pulverised by a devastating Australian performance. The top ten batsmen all contributed substantially to a total of 456 off only 99.1 overs, and then Brett Lee bowled a searing and malevolent spell to leave England hanging on for dear life on 33 for 1 at the close. They trail by 238, and an eighth consecutive Ashes series defeat is a formality.

The day flew by in a dreamy haze to the pounding, rhythmic beat of Australian run-gathering - their rate was a chilling 4.60 per over, and in all there were 68 fours and five sixes. This team has changed the fabric of Test cricket forever.

England were reduced to four main bowlers because of Chris Silverwood's ankle injury, and it was effectively three with Richard Dawson only bowling five overs. Mark Butcher chipped in with a couple of spells into the Fremantle Doctor, but for the unfortunate trio of Steve Harmison, Alex Tudor and Craig White - who picked up his first five-for since the halcyon summer of 2000 - it was a seriously hard day at the office.

The tone was set by Ricky Ponting, who picked up where he left off last night to make a sparkling 68 before chopping White's second ball of the day back onto the stumps (159 for 3). Ponting and Darren Lehmann were both given lives by Rudi Koertzen when they gloved Harmison down the leg side, but the double mistake only cost England 12 runs. Harmison was again impressive even when he repeatedly lost his run-up during the morning session and was forced to resort to a gentle, shoe-shuffling approach to the wicket.

Lehmann made 42 before pulling the last ball before lunch, from his brother-in-law White, straight down fine leg's throat (226 for 4). Lehmann's anguished cry while the ball was in the air spoke of a man whose place is now in peril. Next to go was Damien Martyn, who top-scored with a tranquil 71 before flashing loosely at Tudor and edging behind (264 for 5).

Tudor then had Gilchrist caught off a no-ball on 6 - had he been out, Australia would have been 274 for 6. Instead Gilchrist flayed 38 off 28 balls before swatting White to Tudor just inside the rope at fine leg (316 for 6). He was the third Australian left-hander to hole out there in the innings.

The boundaries continued to flow - they accounted for 66% of Australia's runs - with Steve Waugh cutting Dawson for four in just before tea to reach his first fifty of the series. Soon after the interval, he was bowled by a beauty from Tudor that held its line and clipped off stump (348 for 7). Waugh was gone for 53, having missed possibly his last chance to make a Test century at Perth.

Harmison and Lee then came together in a bruising contest which included a dropped catch, blows to the shoulder and groin and an uppercut six. Lee and Shane Warne smashed 66 for the eighth wicket in 11 overs before both perished in quick succession. Warne was run out for 36 and Lee, who made 41 off 40 balls, sliced White to third man.

That wasn't the end of the misery for England, however. The usually strokeless Jason Gillespie swiped the next two balls for four and six, and he and Glenn McGrath had bashed 33 in 23 deliveries when White yorked Gillespie. It was sadistic stuff from Australia: the last three wickets walloped 108 runs in less than 18 overs.

England's openers were left with 11 overs to survive … and they couldn't quite manage it. Michael Vaughan was dropped by Waugh at short cover off McGrath before Lee, given the new ball ahead of Gillespie and the wind at his back ahead of McGrath, forced Marcus Trescothick to fend an absolute snorter from wide of the crease down the leg side to Gilchrist for 4 (13 for 1). It was the definitive effort ball, and one that invited doubts as to its legality from Peter Roebuck in the ABC Radio commentary box.

Dawson was sent in as nightwatchman to face a rampaging Lee, one of the more thankless tasks in Test history, and his first ball was a brute which flew over the slips off his body. But Dawson showed his bravery again, and even had the temerity to drive Lee down the ground for an all-run four; however, it was the smallest crumb of comfort on another dark day. England have not lost consecutive Ashes Tests by an innings for 56 years. At some point tomorrow, that could well change.

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Rob Smyth is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

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