After stuttering under the pressure of some fine English bowling, Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds took complete control of the Melbourne Test, the Aussies finishing at stumps at 372 for seven, 213 runs ahead of England’s first innings of 159.

Coming together with Australia in trouble at 84 for five, the Queensland duo took the game away from the English with a 279-run sixth-wicket partnership, accumulated with a mixture of intelligent batting, lucky umpiring decisions and some bizarre field placings that makes one question whether England have a mindset that will allow them to avoid a 5-0 drubbing.

The big story of day two was the coming of age of Symonds, who scored his maiden Test century and finished the day unbeaten on 154. Affectionately known as Roy to teammates and fans alike, he has been a source of frustration in his stop-start 11 Test career. A player of undeniable talent, he was seemingly unable to put it all together in the cut and thrust of Test cricket. Until today, that is.

Australia needed more than just a hard-hitting cameo from their number six, who was playing for his career, and Symonds delivered under the pressure, producing an innings of class and intelligence. He struggled early, taking 21 balls to get off the mark before lunch but instead of trying to smash his way into form, he bided his time and worked the singles that were on offer, waiting until he was comfortable at the crease before launching into his trademark brutal shots.

After surviving a plum lbw shout from Monty Panesar on 52, Symonds began to unleash his array of hard-hitting stroke play on a bowling attack that was slowly losing its confidence. He brought up his century in a style befitting one of cricket’s biggest hitters - a massive six straight off Paul Collingwood which sparked unbridled joy from the British-born Queenslander, who had finally made his mark as a Test batsmen.

Hayden’s knock was also one of class. Struggling early on and lucky to survive some close lbw appeals, he dug deep and worked hard for his fifth century in six Tests at the MCG. After fighting through those early scares, he anchored the partnership and was prepared to accumulate the runs through singles. However, he too was willing to punish the English, hitting 11 fours and two sixes in his 265-ball 153.

As good as Hayden and Symonds were, they were given a helping hand by the ludicrous field placements of the opposition. To both batsmen, but especially Symonds, England employed a spread field similar to one used in limited-overs cricket as a containment strategy. It works fine in that form of the game but in the longer version all it does is give the batsmen easy singles, which the Australians happily took. It also helped both batsmen to find their form after being scratchy early.

The decision to use the part-time medium pace of Collingwood, which has netted one solitary wicket in Test cricket, when Symonds was on the cusp of his maiden ton was also a strange decision. Common logic would have England bring on their best bowlers and employ a tight ring of fielders in an attempt to use the magnitude of the moment against Symonds - but instead the tourists were happy to give him the runs with the powder-puff bowling of Collingwood.

Why, when you have the opposition five down for under 100, including their three most in-form batsmen, and a man playing for his career arriving at the crease, with your bowlers getting movement off the pitch and bowling an excellent line, would you then set a field designed to contain any possible damage the opposition may cause instead of trying to press home your advantage? It is a staggering thought but this is what England did.

It appears that the killer instinct that England found in last year’s home Ashes victory is all but lost. This was really quite poor captaincy on the part of Andrew Flintoff and England face a huge task to claw their way back on day three.

But they have the saving grace that it should be the best day for batting in the match.

Do England have any chance of preventing a 5-0 whitewash? You are welcome to leave your comments on this article.