 The opening stand of 329 between Mark Taylor and Geoff Marsh which lasted for nearly four sessions, the highest opening stand in an Ashes test, in any test in England, and the fifth highest partnership for the first wicket in all tests.Their stand allowed Australia to bat throughout day 2 and well into the third, reaching 600 for the second time in the series before declaring their innings closed with 6 wickets down.With Terry Alderman again demolishing the demoralised England batting line-up, taking 5 for 69 to restrict them to 255, England were forced to follow on.