England were potentially nine wickets from retaining the Ashes at tea on the third day in Melbourne, after Australia made a steady start to their second innings but lost Phillip Hughes to a silly
run-out. England established a 415-run lead when they were dismissed on the stroke of lunch, when Peter Siddle took his sixth wicket, which left Australia a huge task to bat for a couple of days to save the match.Shane Watson made a confident start and had reached 50 at lunch, bringing up his half-century with a quick single to cover, while his captain Ricky Ponting was on 19 as the Australians reduced the deficit to 320 and worked their way to 1 for 95. However, it could have been a much more positive session for Australia had Watson not run out Hughes with a bad call, when he pushed Graeme Swann just to the left of Jonathan Trott at cover.
Trott was quickly on to the ball and his thrown found Hughes short, and it was an unnecessary risk with such a mountain of work ahead of the Australians. Hughes had made 23 and was looking good, ticking the scoreboard over without taking any serious risks, and the fast bowlers hadn't provided much threat in the initial stages.
Watson was also in good touch and drove confidently down the ground and through cover as the bowlers battled to find any swing under a clear blue sky. The under-pressure Ponting took until his 15th delivery to get off the mark, aware that there was no rush and his team must bat into Thursday if they are to prevent England taking a 2-1 series lead and retaining the Ashes before next week's Sydney Test.
Following the loss of Hughes, England's bowlers tightened things up and created a few half-chances, with balls falling short of the catching men behind the wicket or rapping the batsmen on the pads. It seemed like only a matter of time before the partnership would be broken, but Watson and Ponting made their way to tea and gave Australia some hope after Trott's unbeaten 168 created a huge advantage for England.
Trott saw five wickets fall around him before lunch, as England added 69 to their overnight total to be dismissed for 513 a few minutes before the scheduled break. Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus did the damage on the third day but Australia had one major concern, after Ryan Harris pulled up lame running in to bowl and left the field with a stress fracture of his left ankle, which will rule him out of the Sydney Test and could potentially be a career-ender for a man already battling a serious knee problem.
Siddle enjoyed a hometown six-wicket haul and he began the day by removing Matt Prior, who was caught at mid-on by Ponting for 85, and then Tim Bresnan was caught behind for 4 soon afterwards. Graeme Swann offered some support for Trott before he gave Hilfenhaus his first wicket of the match, caught behind for 22 when he toe-edged an attempted hook that was taken by a high-leaping Brad Haddin.
The job was finished rapidly a few minutes before the scheduled lunch break when Hilfenhaus bowled Chris Tremlett for 4 and Siddle bowled James Anderson for 1. Siddle finished with 6 for 75, which was his second six-wicket haul of the series following his strong opening-day efforts at the Gabba, but just like in that match, it seemed likely to be in a non-winning cause.
