England compounded Australia's fourth Test misery by sailing into a 346 run first innings lead on a heated second day in Melbourne.

It was Jonathan Trott (139 not out) who provided the backbone to the tourists' measured advance, racking up his third Test century against Australia, with Kevin Pietersen adding a half-century and Matt Prior ending the day on an unbeaten 75.

Peter Siddle had earlier threatened to revive Australia's hopes of a comback before Trott and Prior batted Andrew Strauss' men to the verge of an Ashes series victory, England reaching 444 for five at the close.

Ricky Ponting was also involved in a heated confrontation with umpire Aleem Dar after an unsuccessful call to the Umpire Decision Review System.

Ponting's men had endured a nightmare Boxing Day at the MCG on Sunday, skittled for a record low score of 98 before Strauss and Alastair Cook eased England's first innings to 157 without loss at the close of day one.

Monday promised a change of fortune for the home side thanks to the determination of Siddle, who struck twice in his opening spell to remove both Strauss (69) and Cook (82). A combination of accurate Australian bowling and the cautious approach adopted by England's batsmen saw the first 10 overs of the day concede just 14 runs for the loss of two wickets.

The initial double strike proved, however, to be Australia's only success of the morning session as Trott and Pietersen snuffled Siddle's attempt to stir an Australian revival. With Siddle tiring and the rest of the four-man Aussie pace atttack proving ineffectual, Ponting turned to Steven Smith shortly before lunch. The young leg-spinner was unable to find a breakthrough despite an impressive but brief spell as England reached the interval on 226 for two.

The game then fired into life in a massively entertaining afternoon session that had just about everything from wickets, to injury, as well as a fair bit of controversy.

The boiling point came when Ponting confronted umpire Aleem Dar after a referral for a caught-behind decision was turned down by third umpire Marais Erasmus. The incident was sparked when Pietersen was given not out by Dar in the face of Brad Haddin's lone appeal. A subsequent referral by Australia yielded no evidence of an inside edge and Pietersen was allowed to continue his innings. Ponting, however, disagreed after having seen the replays on the big screen at the MCG and the Australian captain then launched into an unwarranted tirade at Dar, a move which will no doubt see him booked in for an appointment with the match referee late on Monday.

A fired-up Siddle also had a word or two to exchange with umpire Dar and he was duly handed the ball by his skipper, a move whcih paid immediate reward with the bustling seamer getting a ball to skid through low to trap Pietersen lbw for an attractive 51.

Despite pre-Test suggestions to the contrary, Paul Collingwood (eight) appeared at number five in the order for England and did not last long before top-edging a sharp Mitchell Johnson bouncer straight to Siddle at fine-leg.

The pair of Johnson and Siddle combined again shortly afterwards with a near identical dismissal to get rid of Ian Bell for one. With three quick wickets and England at 286 for five, Australia sensed their chance to get back in the game.

The talking points continued with Trott diving full stretch to survive a run-out scare, given not out by the television umpire. Prior was also given a major reprieve thanks to Dar, who, after giving the England wicketkeeper out caught-behind off Johnson, called for assistance from the television umpire in adjudicating whether or not Johnson had in fact overstepped on his delivery stride. Replays confirmed that the delivery was a no-ball and Prior was called back.

It proved a major slice of fortune for Prior, and England, as the wicketkeeper-batsman combined with Trott in a telling stand of 158 runs. Prior raced to 75 not out by the close and Trott was able to bring up his fourth Test century. The England number-three batsman was allowed a large portion of easy runs by the Australian seamers, who persisted with a line far too straight, allowing the 29-year old eat and drink off his pads.

Australia face a massive task if are they to salvage anything from the match or, indeed, the series.

Delivery of the Day
Strauss lost his wicket to an unplayable delivery from Siddle. The ball pitched just back of a length and outside off-stump before jagging off the seam to square up the England captain. A leading edge saw a catch loop up long enough for Mike Hussey to snatch a one-handed catch in the gully.

Shot of the Day
Pietersen hit a fluent half-century and his first shot of authority was his first boundary, an elegant on-drive for four to kick-start his innings. Closing in on his 50, Pietersen then hit a similar but arguably more elegant stroke down the ground with just a short-arm punch fetching a boundary down the ground.

Defining Moment of the Day
Definitely Ponting's tirade in the face of Dar. It was uncalled for, undeserved against an umpire doing a sterling job, and showed just how under pressure, uncomposed and desperate Ponting and Australia are.

Doug Saxby