England arrived in Perth understandably buoyant having taken a one-nil lead in the series at Adelaide. But at the same time, the pressure would be on to make sure that the advantage wasn't squandered. And for the third consecutive game, the visitors were able to field an unchanged team, meaning Andrew Strauss was still unable to force his way into the team.
On a hard, bouncy track, England would have taken great comfort from winning the toss and being given the chance to put some runs on the board having opted to bat first. But it couldn't have started any badly as Brett Lee continued his new-found form from Adelaide and removed both Cook and Vaughan to leave the tourists on 6-2. As Kevin Pietersen settled in and found his rhythm fairly quickly, both Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood also fell before England had reached 100. It was looking as if England's series lead was severely under threat, with a score less than 300 being unacceptable.
As Hayman teamed up with Pietersen, another epic partnership involving the rookie followed - this time a combined of 209 with both men reaching hundreds. Phil Mustard chipped in with a valuable 62 before England fell to 390-9, still short of an ideal score. Finally, however, the tail wagged with Panesar and Harmison adding 51 to the score to leave England on 441.
The Australian response was the most assured it had been all series. Even though Ponting and Clarke failed by their high standards, Hayden's 121 and an unbeaten 91 for Haddin powered the hosts onto 463 and a first innings lead of 22. Flintoff did most of the damage for England with figures of 4-71, and provided the visitors could bat competently in the second innings, a draw was fast becoming the most probable outcome.
And it was contributions all round that boosted England second time out as Cook, Pietersen and Collingwood all fell agonisingly short of half centuries, while Vaughan holed out on 98. But yet again there was a century for Hayman before Flintoff came in and added 66 to push England further towards their eventual resting point of 439. With the hosts requiring over 400 for victory on a worsening pitch with two and a half sessions to get there, it was an outcome that would not come to pass. The question was whether England could force yet another remarkable victory.
Alas no. Battling half centuries from Jaques, Hayden and the unbeaten Ponting kept Australia well and truly alive for the draw despite a fantastic spell of bowling from Paul Collingwood. The medium pacer managed to take 3-35 including ducks for Clarke and Symonds but it was in vain as Australia made the end of the match on 195/4 to keep their chances alive of turning things around in the series.
England will take heart from their batting but will look to be more clinical with the ball at Melbourne on Boxing Day. The bottom line, however, is that anything less than an Aussie win at the MCG will mean that England take the Urn back with them in the New Year, and that is a very relishing prospect.
Series score: England 1-0 Australia (3)
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