Australia in control
Australia exposed the shortcomings of England's frail batting lineup to take command of the fourth Ashes test on Friday, reducing the hosts to 238-9 on the opening day after offspinner Nathan Lyon grabbed four wickets.
From a position of strength at 107-1, England ended up crawling past 200 in often painstaking fashion. Lyon was the standout bowler, sparking the collapse with the dismissal of Jonathan Trott for 49 and ripping through the middle order to claim figures of 4-42.
Their first job on Saturday will be to end the frustrating last-wicket pairing of Tim Bresnan (12) and Jimmy Anderson (16), which put on 24 in the final few overs of the day to haul England's score to something approaching respectable.
The tourists' attack continued where it left off the drawn third test at Old Trafford, resuming its probing line and length and giving England very few easy runs.
He clearly benefited from England getting tied up in knots by Australia's accurate pacemen - Ryan Harris, Ashes debutant Jackson Bird and Peter Siddle. It meant batsmen were keen to release the pressure on them by taking on Lyon, with Kevin Pietersen (26), Ian Bell (6) and Jonny Bairstow (14) all falling after attempting big heaves off the spinner.
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