By Lawrence Booth
Reporting from the SCG
Last updated at 6:55 AM on 5th January 2011
England are on the verge of history after centuries from Alastair Cook and Ian Bell took them to a position of such dominance after three days of the fifth Test in Sydney that a first series win in Australia for 24 years is all but assured.
Cook, in the form of his life, made 189 to take his series tally to a monstrous 766 – second only among England batsmen to Walter Hammond's 905 in Australia in 1928-29 – while Bell made 115, his first Ashes hundred after an apparently interminable wait.
When bad light intervened with five overs remaining, England were 488 for 7 and led by 208. The breathing space they have gained would turn defeat from here into the mother of all chokes.
The wait is finally over: Ian Bell celebrates reaching his century in Sydney
If both centurions survived moments of controversy while grinding Australian noses into the SCG dust, no Englishmen with wince-inducing memories of the years between 1989 and 2002-03 will feel too much sympathy.
Cook had reached 99 when he turned a ball from left-arm spinner Michael Beer towards short leg, where Phil Hughes scooped up a catch on the half-volley before gesturing he was unsure whether the ball had carried.
Focus: Bell held his nerve after waiting so long top reach his first Ashes ton
But his team-mates, desperate to rid themselves of England's run-machine, were not inclined to translate his doubt into a common-sense request for a TV replay. As Cook stood his ground umpires Aleem Dar and Billy Bowden went upstairs to Tony Hill.
Cook was rightly reprieved before going on to complete his 16th Test hundred, then easing his way to within 11 runs of what would have been a second double-century in the series. A tired waft at Shane Watson spelled his downfall to end a sixth-wicket stand of 154 with Bell – and at 380 for 6 England already led by 100.
But if Cook was entirely innocent, Bell may have been rather guiltier. In search of a maiden Ashes hundred after passing 50 against Australia for the 12th time in four series, he had reached 75 when he was given out caught behind off an inside edge as he pushed at Shane Watson.
Ice in his veins: Alastair Cook hits out during his immense spell for England at the SCG
Not entirely convincingly, Bell called for a review. And while Hotspot showed nothing – as it occasionally does for the faintest of contacts – Snicko later suggested a tiny edge. Hill reportedly told Dar that there was no irrefutable evidence either way, in which case the original decision should have stood and Bell sent packing.
But the rub of the green has gone England's way in this game, and their No 6 duly moved to his 12th Test hundred before edging Mitchell Johnson low to Michael Clarke at first slip shortly before the close.
That brought to an end an enterprising partnership of 107 in 24 overs with Matt Prior, who walked off with an unbeaten 54 to his name from 59 deliveries.
Controversy: Alastair Cook's shot clearly touches the ground before Phil Hughes' takes the ball at short leg in the flashpoint on day three in Sydney
If England had by then taken complete control of a series in which – with the exception of the first three days at Brisbane and the last two at Perth – they have been overwhelmingly the better side, then the day had not always gone according to plan.
Nightwatchman Jimmy Anderson was bowled in the sixth over of the morning by Peter Siddle for 7 to make it 181 for 4, and England still trailed by 54 when Paul Collingwood, on 13, tried to hit his way back to form but succeeded only in presenting Beer with a first Test wicket with a miscued chip high to mid-on.
But Cook – his nervy moment on 99 aside – was as unflappable as ever, and Bell took the series away from the Australians. It was the day Clarke's side may finally have had to concede enough was enough.
Pretty in pink? The Barmy Army wore different colours on a day to help the McGrath Foundation
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