Waugh-torn tourists put to sword as captain strikes back

Australia 356-3 v England

Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden scored sparkling hundreds at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday to place Australia firmly in control of this fourth Ashes Test. Together they put Nasser Hussain's England side back in their place, following two one-day victories over Sri Lanka.

However, it was not this pair of ruthless openers that the vast proportion of the 64,189 crowd turned up to see. With the buckles on their belts stretched, and heads still throbbing from over-indulging on Christmas Day, the Victorian public filled this arena to capacity to pay pilgrimage to one man – Steve Waugh. Because, if you believe what you read in the local papers, the Australian captain is under pressure for his place. With the Australian selectors making a decision on Waugh's future at the conclusion of next week's Sydney Test, this could possibly have been the last chance for the sport crazy folk of Melbourne to show their appreciation for one of Australia's greatest ever players.

Because of the efforts of Langer and Hayden – who after a slow start pulverised England's limited and weak bowling attack – the crowd had to wait patiently until 4.40pm for the moment they had been waiting for.

From the second he set foot on the grass to the time he arrived in the middle, the ground stood as one and applauded the great man in. Even for a player who has little time for sentiment, Waugh must have had a lump in his throat as he took guard.

Stephen Harmison had obviously not read the script because the first delivery Waugh faced nearly gave him whiplash as it flew past his throat like a rocket. Indeed, earlier in the day the Durham fast bowler, after unleashing a 94mph thunderbolt, broke Darren Gough's record of the fastest ball bowled by an Englishman in Test cricket.

This did not perturb Waugh who, even after scoring 9,840 Test runs, batted as though he had a point to prove.

It was the Australians who christened Mike Atherton "cockroach" because, whatever they threw at him they could never kill him off. With Waugh showing exactly the same survival instincts, it will not be long before his nickname is changed to "Atherton". His first four scoring shots were boundaries and, batting like a wounded boxer with nothing to lose, he threw some big punches. Most connected as he raced to 50 off just 48 balls.

After having five boundaries taken off his bowling by Waugh in two overs, Mark Butcher showed further generosity to the 37-year-old. On 56, Waugh edged the last ball of Andrew Caddick's first over with the second new ball to the Surrey opener at second slip. To many it appeared to carry, but Butcher showed sportsmanship is not dead in an age where cheating an opponent out is seen as part of the game.

Rather than claim the catch, Butcher said that he did not feel that it had carried. Because the bowler had appealed, the catch went to the third umpire, but by then Butcher had told Waugh that it had bounced. Waugh shook Butcher's hand in appreciation of such honesty.

That Waugh was able to bat with such élan was because of a record opening partnership of 195 against England at the MCG between Langer and Hayden. But it could all have been so different if Harmison, placed 20 yards inside the boundary by Hussain, had been five yards deeper at fine leg to the third ball of the day.

Hayden hooked at his first ball from Caddick and, via a top edge, the ball flew over Harmison and bounced five yards inside the rope. Poor captaincy, probably. Bad luck, possibly. It summed up another disheartening day for England.

It was not the first disappointment of the day for Hussain, who must be getting used to making last-minute changes to his side. This time it was Alec Stewart who was forced to withdraw with an injured right hand. The absence of the 39-year-old left England with an unbalanced look to them. James Foster came in to keep wicket and John Crawley replaced Alex Tudor from the side which lost the Ashes in Perth.

After picking just four specialist bowlers, it was inevitable that Hussain would lose the toss and find himself in the field on a flat pitch. England bowled reasonably well in two of the sessions as Australia batted like they used to in Test cricket. Langer and Hayden were watchful and played each ball on its merit.

However, sandwiched in between were two hours of absolute carnage. It was as if the openers had arrived in the Australian dressing room at lunch and been told: "Don't you realise there are over 64,000 people out there and they've come here to be entertained. They have not rocked up to watch you two block it. Now get out there and play a few shots."

And play they did. In 26 overs Australia scored 147 runs as Hussain's bowlers were flogged to all parts of the ground. It was competitive stuff, though, with the players trading blow for blow. The only problem for England was that the competition was between Hayden and Langer. It was a race to see who would reach three figures first.

Hayden won in an innings in which he played some of the most outrageous shots you could wish to see. Batting like a left-handed Viv Richards, he treated the bowlers with disdain and scored his eighth hundred in his last 13 Tests.

Langer, despite the odd flurry, was happy to play second fiddle. The nuggety little left-hander took several blows to the body but needed an innings like this after going some time without a big score. His joy and relief was there for all to see when he hoisted Richard Dawson for six to bring up his century.

Melbourne scoreboard

First day; Australia won toss

AUSTRALIA ­ First Innings

J L Langer not out 146

382 min, 257 balls, 19 fours, 1 six

M L Hayden c Crawley b Caddick 102

195 min, 148 balls, 10 fours, 3 sixes

R T Ponting b White 21

40 min, 32 balls, 3 fours

D R Martyn c Trescothick b White 17

39 min, 30 balls, 3 fours

*S R Waugh not out 62

106 min, 78 balls, 12 fours

Extras (lb3 w1 nb4) 8

Total (for 3, 382 min, 90 overs) 356

Fall: 1-195 (Hayden) 2-235 (Ponting), 3-265 (Martyn).

To bat: M L Love, ÝA C Gilchrist, B Lee, J N Gillespie, S C G MacGill, G D McGrath.

Bowling: Caddick 24-5-89-1 (nb2) (9-2-29-0, 3-0-19-0, 4-0-17-1, 3-0-13-0, 5-3-11-0); Harmison 26-5-86-0 (5-2-12-0, 5-1-13-0, 3-0-22-0, 9-2-29-0, 4-0-10-0); White 21-4-77-2 (nb1) (7-1-27-0, 3-1-19-0, 10-2-27-2, 1-0-4-0); Dawson 14-1-67-0 (4-0-19-0, 4-0-31-0, 2-1-13-0, 4-0-4-0); Butcher 5-1-34-0 (w1) (2-0-10-0, 3-1-24-0).

Progress: First day: 50: 80 min, 17 overs. Lunch: 88-0 (Langer 33, Hayden 53) 27 overs. 100: 132 min, 30.4 overs. 150: 163 min, 38 overs. 200: 203 min, 46.1 overs. Tea: 235-2 (Langer 108) 53.5 overs. 250: 266 min, 61.5 overs. 300: 307 min, 70.5 overs. New ball taken after 81 overs at 335-3. 350: 369 min, 86.4 overs.

Langer's 50: 137 min, 86 balls, 7 fours. 100: 211 min, 136 balls, 15 fours, 1 six.

Hayden's 50: 115 min, 92 balls, 5 fours, 1 six. 100: 184 min, 139 balls, 10 fours, 2 sixes.

Waugh's 50: 62 min, 49 balls, 10 fours.

ENGLAND: M E Trescothick, M P Vaughan, M A Butcher, *N Hussain, R W T Key, J P Crawley, C White, ÝJ S Foster, R K J Dawson, A R Caddick, S J Harmison.

Umpires: D L Orchard and R B Tiffin.

TV replay umpire: D B Hair.

Match referee: Wasim Raja.