England pair survive tense hour

Already 230 runs in front, Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott had no time pressure to deal with but were under the microscope at a pivotal stage of the match in front of an enthralled and sold-out crowd.

They kept their cool to progress from 58 for three to 96 without further loss in cloudy conditions as England's hopes of winning back the urn continued to rise.

A pitch which has attracted much controversial comment after Friday's clatter of Australian wickets, again required concentration from the batsmen but did not significantly misbehave. The closest call for England came from the first ball of the day.

Peter Siddle was convinced Trott had edged one which left him on the way through to the wicketkeeper.

But umpire Asad Rauf was not, and television replays vindicated the view that the ball had made contact with Trott's trousers only.

Siddle and Mitchell Johnson gave England's fourth-wicket pair no leeway to release the pressure.

But neither did they threaten - let alone achieve - a breakthrough, and eventually Ricky Ponting turned instead to Stuart Clark and Marcus North's off-spin.

It was in North's first over from the Vauxhall end that Trott turned one behind square for the first boundary of the day - in the 11th over - to bring up a precious 50 stand.