Evening Session

If England thought their day could get no better after the first two sessions they were mistaken.

The signs were good from the moment Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss strode out after tea under sunny skies. Ben Hilfenhaus and Ryan Harris failed to find the sort of movement James Anderson and Chris Tremlett enjoyed, and the England openers cashed in.

Peter Siddle ran in with aggression but rarely looked like adding to his one victim since the opening day of the series, while Mitchell Johnson continues his one-man bid to personify the word mercurial with a woeful collection of long-hops and a consistent failure to get the ball off the straight.

The question is, which is the real Mitchell Johnson? The lion or the lamb? The latter is certainly more frequently spotted.

Shane Watson was dragged on for a few reluctant overs, and Steve Smith bowled some enthusiastic leg-spin, apparently in the hope that the sight of a chubby blond larrikin bowling wrist spin would in and of itself be sufficient for England to suffer some kind of terrifying flashback and give their wickets away in a confused daze. Not, to be fair, the worst scheme.

But it didn't happen, as Cook powered past 500 series runs and Strauss past 6,000 career runs - in under seven years as a Test cricketer - and England, ludicrously, ended the first day already leading by 59 runs with all wickets in hand.

Verdict: Australia 0 England 1
Total: Australia 0 England 3

Afternoon Session

England did not repeat the errors of Perth.

There was to be no escape for Australia this time as wickets continued to fall with astonishing regularity.

When your batting relies entirely on three batsmen, you're never going to be too far from this sort of disaster. Watson, Hussey and Haddin all failed this time, and Australia were blitzed for just 98 - their lowest Ashes score at the MCG.

James Anderson and Chris Tremlett were equally good and, in a rare example of cricketing justice, picked up four wickets apiece while maiden-bowling pressure-building Tim Bresnan played the role assigned to him perfectly.

All 10 wickets fell to catches behind the wicket - six of them to Matt Prior who's keeping during this series has been of the highest order.

Verdict: Australia 0 England 1
Total: Australia 0 England 2

Morning Session

England did absolultely everything right. Apart from the catching. And the review system.

At what the pundits had been calling a "good toss to lose", Strauss made the call to bowl first. Perhaps he saw a bit of green in the pitch. Perhaps he saw a few clouds in the sky. Or perhaps he saw the words "Hughes", "Ponting", "Clarke" and "Smith" in Australia's top six and just wanted to get at them at the earliest opportunity.

Surprisingly, it was Shane Watson not Phil Hughes who made the skittish, uncertain start, the former twice being dropped off James Anderson while the latter plundered 10 from Chris Tremlett's first over.

But Watson's luck wasn't to last as a brief but eventful innings came to an end as Tremlett got one to climb and find the shoulder of the bat.

Hughes then reverted to frenetic type and, although he did manage to lure England into wasting one of their reviews, there was never any sense of permanence from the left-hander who duly edged a wild drive to gully to give Tim Bresnan - playing in place of Steven Finn - a first Ashes wicket.

Ricky Ponting and his damaged digit then departed - once again nicking into the slips going hard at the ball - before the coup de grace arrived 60 seconds before the rain came.

For once Mike Hussey's footwork was tentative and uncertain as he nicked the ball through to Prior.

The players went off for rain one ball later, and a bit of rain to freshen up the pitch won't distress England at all.

Caveat: remember Perth.

Verdict: Australia 0 England 1

Dave Tickner