England were today facing the prospect of another Ashes humbling in the third Test after Australia underlined their dominance with both bat and ball on a fast and bouncy WACA pitch in Perth.
Needing victory to retain a chance of winning the Ashes and to avoid defeat to stay alive in the series, England reserved possibly their worst performance of the series for the crucial opening day.
After captain Nasser Hussain won the toss for the third time in the series and decided to bat first, they crumbled against the pace and hostility of Brett Lee in particular - while Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie provided support as England slumped to 185 all out.
With 23 overs to try and make inroads into Australia's powerful batting line-up, once again they failed to perform and were hammered all over the ground by the attacking strokeplay of Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting. The Tasmanian blazed an unbeaten 43 off 47 balls to guide his side to just 59 short of parity on 126 for two at the close.
The tourists matched their dramatic collapses in the first two Test defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide, this time losing seven wickets for 84 runs in 34 overs after a succession of ill-judged shots were matched by inadequate temperament and technique as Lee marked his return to international cricket by claiming three for 78.