Cricket: Clark has good day.

AUSTRALIA paceman Stuart Clark accepted the day could not have gone much better for the hosts.

"It was a good day. We worked to a plan and achieved it at the end of the day," he said.

"I think bowling length is a big key, especially early on when the ball is hard - you have to try to get the batsmen driving.

"It is very much a new ball wicket. Once it softens up batting is not as difficult as it has been."

Clark is the hosts' leading wicket-taker in the series - ahead of the experienced trio of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Brett Lee - and it is something he is still getting used to.

"It is nice - the rewards have gone my way a bit I still wake up in the morning and think 'this is not real'," he added.

"But we are still focusing on tomorrow."

ASHES FLASHES

Man of the moment: Ricky Ponting. A close call between Ponting and Kevin Pietersen - but the Australia captain gets the nod for his inventive and effective captaincy to go with a well-crafted, unbeaten 57.

Key moment: The wicket of Andrew Flintoff, more for the fact that he was undone by Andrew Symonds - Australia's fifth-choice bowler - than the fact that it left England tottering on 107 for five.

A Verdict: Australia strengthened their hand as the shadows lengthened, with Pietersen's valiant rearguard a rare positive for England on a day of home dominance.