A familiar figure returned to Headingley yesterday. Not Graham Gooch, who spent the afternoon on the England balcony, or Ian Botham, who did so in a television commentary box. Instead, at lunchtime, shortly after Mark Taylor had declared Australia's first innings closed, the man from Ladbrokes produced the updated match odds and there it was: England 500 to 1. Twenty-three overs into the afternoon and they appeared to be the offerings of a skinflint bookie, for in that time, England, chasing 329 to make Australia bat for a second time, had lost Mike Atherton, Mark Butcher, Alec Stewart and Graham Thorpe and had slumped to 89 for four. The day, the match and very likely the Ashes were effectively lost.

But, by the close, a transformation had occurred which restored some small measure of faith to a side who, for three days, had bust a gut to shed their credibility as worthy opponents of the Australian machine.

It came from Nasser Hussain, the double-century hero of Edgbaston, and John Crawley, a man still trying to impose himself in the side, whose unbroken fifth wicket stand has so far produced 123 runs and let just the merest chink of light into the gloom.

There were three overs of the day remaining when Hussain swivelled in the sunlight and pulled McGrath for the two runs that took him to his second Test century of the summer, and his fourth in 11 matches.

Until Hussain and Crawley came together, the England cricket in the two hours possible on Saturday before the rain came and for the first two sessions yesterday was a straight regression to the bad, sloppy, uncompetitive days of the last two Ashes series. Although Gough puffed his chest out and bustled in wholeheartedly for every one of his 35 overs, the bowling was too often a misdirected hotch-potch of short balls and half-volleys. On a pitch that still demanded attention from the batsman, particularly after the time spent under cover, 244 runs came in boundaries, well over half the runs scored from the bat. It is a proportion unacceptable in Test cricket, even on a pristine surface.

So was a madcap rate of almost five runs per over that put England on the rack during the two hours yesterday morning before Taylor declared at 501 for nine. There were two early successes for Mark Ealham when the wicket of Ian Healy, who chopped on to his stumps after a stand of 64 with Elliott, was followed five balls later by that of Warne.

But then embarrassment set in once more, with Elliott hooking away merrily whenever anyone tried to prove a weakness in that area, and Reiffel twice clattering Smith through the covers as he embarked on an innings that was to take him to within three of his highest Test score.

The eighth-wicket partnership had brought 61 in less than a dozen overs, when, totally unexpectedly, Elliott played over a splendid yorker from Gough and saw his offstump cartwheel. In so doing, he joined Mudassar Nazar and Mohammad Azharuddin as the only batsmen in Test history to fall within a run of a double century. Gough then completed his first five-wicket haul in a Headingley Test - five for 149 in all - by bowling Gillespie. The bowlers then got the yips, McGrath looked very much at ease for 35 minutes, getting into double figures for the third time in his first-class life, and had added 40 with Reiffel when Taylor pulled the plug.

Guardian Service

England V Australia (Headingley)

Overnight: England 172 (J N Gillespie 737). Australia 373-5 (M T G Elliott 164 no, R T Ponting 127). Australia - First innings ctd M Elliott b Gough - 199 I Healy b Ealham - 31 S Warne c Thorpe b Ealham - 0 P Reiffel not out - 54 J Gillespie b Gough - 3 G McGrath not out - 20 Extras (b9 lb10 nb35) - 54 -

Total (for 9 wkts dec, 123 overs) 501

Fall of wickets: 1-0; 2-16; 3-43; 4-50; 5-318; 6-382; 7-383; 8-444; 9-461.

Bowling: Gough 36-5-149-5, Headley 25-2125-2, Smith 23-2-89-0, Ealham 19-3-56-2, Croft 18-1-49-0, Butcher 2-0-14-0

England - Second Innings M Butcher c Healy b McGrath - 19 M Atherton c Warne b McGrath - 2 A Stewart b Reiffel - 16 N Hussain not out - 101 G Thorpe c M E Waugh b Gillespie - 15 J Crawley not out - 48 Extras (b4 lb1 nb6) - 11 -

Total (for 4 wkts, 63 overs) 212 Fall of wickets: 1-23; 2-28; 3-57; 4-89.

To Bat: M Ealham, R Croft, D Gough, A Smith, D Headley.

Bowling: McGrath 18-4-72-2, Reiffel 16-1-391, Gillespie 13-3-51-1, Warne 12-3-34-0, S R Waugh 4-1-11-0

Umpires: M J Kitchen and C J Mitchley.