'A magnificent morning's play' - Henry Blofeld and Bobby Simpson round up the action at lunch (Radio 4)

Together they reduced the home side to 101-3 at lunch after England had suffered a double blow before play had even begun, losing opener Mike Atherton through injury and then the toss for the fifth time in a row.

But after the flurry of wickets the Mark and Steve Waugh steadied the Australian challenge with an unbeaten stand of 49 as they began to pick up the run rate.

Headley, who bowled England to victory at Melbourne in the fourth Test, struck in the fourth over of the day, when Mark Taylor edged low to Graeme Hick in the slips for two.

And his inspired spell received a second reward, when Michael Slater was tempted into a hook shot and gloved the ball to wicketkeeper Warren Hegg for 18.

Justin Langer is caught by Mark Ramprakash off Alex Tudor's bowling (Radio 4)

That left the score 52-2 and without a run being added, Justin Langer, who had suffered two major scares, cut a wide delivery from Tudor and Mark Ramprakash claimed a comfortable catch at square leg.

Atherton forced out

The wickets lifted England after they had received an 11th hour blow to their hopes of levelling the series when Atherton was forced out with a recurrence of his long-term back injury.

His late withdrawal brought about a dramatic recall for Mark Butcher, who had been left out of the side on Friday.

Left-arm paceman Alan Mullally was dropped - amid fears he could rough up the pitch and aid the opposition spinners - in favour of youngster Tudor.

England opted for just one spinner, with Peter Such edging out late call-up Ashley Giles, while Australia went into the match with three slow bowlers - Colin Miller, Stuart MacGill and fit-again Shane Warne.

Australia lead the series 2-1 and have already retained the Ashes - but victory at the SCG would give England a share of the series honours.

Langer out after double let-off

Langer's innings of 26 was full of incident. First he appeared to have been caught behind off Tudor. But, with the fielders celebrating and the batsman heading for the pavilion, attention was drawn to umpire Darrell Hair, who had called a no-ball.

Minutes later luck was again with Langer, when the third umpire was called into action to give a run-out decision after Headley's superb direct hit. Replays proved inconclusive and the batsman was given the benefit of the doubt.

Langer's eventual departure brought the Waugh brothers together and they soon found the groove, Mark smacking Such for successive fours over the bowler's head and Steve producing a typical fast-scoring, obdurate display.

Scorecard:

Australia first innings - Lunch:
M Taylor c Hick b Headley 2
M Slater c Hegg b Headley 18
J Langer c Ramprakash b Tudor 26
M Waugh not out 26
S Waugh not out 22
Extras 7
Total (for 3 wickets, 26 overs) 101

Fall: 1-4, 2-52, 3-52

Bowling: Gough 8-3-21-0, Headley 9-1-40-2, Tudor 4-0-29-1, Such 5-3-10-0

To bat: D Lehmann, I Healy, D Fleming, S Warne, S MacGill, G McGrath, C Miller

England : A Stewart (captain), M Butcher, N Hussain, M Ramprakash, J Crawley, G Hick, W Hegg, D Headley, D Gough, A Tudor, P Such.