Australia look to be in a commanding position at the end of the third day at the WACA, having built up a 146-run lead with six wickets still on hand.
Steve Smith and Mitch Marsh remain at the crease at the end of the day with 229 and 181 runs to their names retrospectively.
At the start of the day, England would have given themselves a good chance to remain even-stevens by stumps, much like they had done at Gabba.
Little would they have known what was in store for them, especially after having grabbed the early wicket of Shaun Marsh.
The bloody-mindedness of Steve Smith and Mitch Marsh’s surprising retort to being dropped from the side changed all of that for England.
What made it worse for England was it wasn’t like Australia gave them chances. No dropped catches throughout the day, and hardly an appeal.
The pitch? It looks docile at this stage but let’s also say that it was tough to decide what looked more dead, the surface or the English bowling.
The rain forecast notwithstanding, Australia need to bat one session and bash England out of the game with another 120-odd runs.
Scores at end of day
England 403
Australia 4/549
Steve Smith holds the controls of the direction in which the WACA Test could head at the end of the second day’s play in the third Ashes Test between Australia and England. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of Day 3 at the WACA from 1:30pm (AEDT).
A 237-run stand for the fifth wicket seemed to have taken England into a position of near invincibility but a typical collapse left them with only just enough runs to make a match out of this.
At four for 368, they looked to have run away with the encounter, with Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow leading the side to that position with centuries to their name.
But the problems that have afflicted them throughout the series came back to haunt them as they lost the last six wickets for 36 runs to fold up for 403 batting first.
What followed the English bitter-sweet innings has been the story of the series; the tourists have been able to make early dents to the Aussie innings but they haven’t really gotten through the middle-order and test the potentially more brittle lower half.
Make no mistake, they still have a chance going into day three of the Test. But standing between them and a rare chance of winning a WACA Test is captain Smith yet again, who was unbeaten on 92 at stumps.
The early wickets of David Warner and Cameron Bancroft obviously pegged Australia back but Usman Khawaja’s century stand with his skipper brought parity to the proceedings.
Shaun Marsh was at the crease with his skipper when the day ended, and with Australia still trailing by 200, things look interestingly poised.
An early Smith wicket could trigger an English resurrection but if the Australian captain holds THE fort for most of the first half of the day, the hosts could well run away with the game.
The Test match is still in anybody’s hands but going into the third day, Joe Root wouldn’t want to think of what-if-they-had-scored-500, an objective that had looked very achievable for most of their innings. Their bowlers could hold the key.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of Day 3 of the third Test 2017-18 Ashes series from 1:30pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Stuckbetweenindopak
Roar Rookie
A double for mitch a triple for smithy and declare
Stuckbetweenindopak
Roar Rookie
England arrived on the continent with an anti climax squad. Had to turnout a damp squib this ashes. Without stokes, liam plunkett shoudnt be bowling in t10 league, steve finn & mark wood should have been in the squad. Where is haseeb hameed or butler or roy or hales????
TheCunningLinguistic
Guest
Sour grapes, hey? How about some respect for a bloke who's gone away and worked hard on remedying the flaws in his technique? This could be the start of something great, a la Steve Waugh. I, for one, couldn't be happier.
Don Freo
Guest
His average improved from 21 to 27. That's because it is a small sample size. You understand as much about cricket as you do about AFL. Absolutely nothing.
Internal Fixation
Guest
Check Howstat out - Great for debunking some pretty amateur comments. Anderson is the top rated bowler over the past 2 years. I disagree with rating purely on averages but he is still rated as one of the best in the world. Yes it’s not England, it’s a Kokaburra blah blah but he is quality. Broad has destroyed Australia in the past but is down on form. At this rate Marsh will beat M. Waugh’s too score. How do you like them apples?
I Worlds Biggest
Guest
Yes indeed Martin McCague ( Aussie born ) was in that illustrious lineup along with Andy Caddick et al...
rock
Guest
You are kidding right. How is pointing out the hyperbole comments by saying we still need to wait and see denigrating his performance? I reckon everyone on here has said he batted well, so good on him. But as the saying goes Don, a swallow doesn't make a summer. I do really hope this is the big turning point and he becomes a player who has a batting average above and bowling average below the mid 30's. But I want to see him bacl it up over the next few tests, isn't that fair given his Test match history?
Brissie Boy
Guest
Touche Marshes. Do it against Rabada, Abbott and Philander in February next year and I'm prepared to wipe the slate clean. ;)
Jon boy
Guest
That is the point Anderson is Old and way past it .Broad is a long,long way the bowler he was 1 for 345 today tells a story.
jamesb
Guest
Anderson has over 500 wickets, Broad close to 400. I can remember a few english attacks back in the early nineties that were much worse than this current lot.
Rock
Guest
Odd comment
anon
Roar Pro
You let someone bat 32 times eventually they are going to contribute to a result.
Darren
Guest
So Nathan Lyon might be right?
Rock
Guest
That's a joke right?
Jon boy
Guest
Great effort by Smith and Marsh, but this would have to be England's worst bowling attack of all time, commentators even said that Glen McGrath could make a100 against them.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
An average is ultimately just like a puff of vapour somewhere at the corners of your vision, 181 is real in it's effect on this match and the series.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Insanity from Mitch Marsh today XD
Linphoma
Guest
Shattered but not broken. In the face of that, England have not fallen apart in the field. I salute the effort. Fear the result for them.
Pedro the Maroon
Guest
MMarsh is the Watto we always wishes Watto would be.
I Worlds Biggest
Guest
Epic days cricket, huge congrats to both Smith and Marsh on magnificent knocks. Outstanding batting.