Strauss had given England hope with a determined half-century

"We felt the right thing to do was bat and I think we still feel that," said the opener, who top-scored with 50.

"We got to 100-2 and if you get 250-odd you have done pretty well on a wicket like that. Unfortunately we lost wickets at crucial times.

"It was a frustrating day, but it was good to get two wickets at the end."

It is the sort of wicket you can go bang, bang, bang on Andrew Strauss

England were soon reduced to 44-2 after a delayed start at the MCG, before Strauss and Paul Collingwood began to rebuild the innings with a watchful partnership of 57 in 25 overs.

But the final eight wickets fell for 58 in less than 30 overs and Strauss admitted: "We are somewhere short of where we wanted to be.

"We battled hard for the first couple of sessions, where the ball was nipping around, and we got ourselves in a position where we could maybe go on and post a decent score."

Captain Andrew Flintoff restored some pride with two wickets in two balls, and Strauss was hopeful England could make further in-roads on day two, although Australia were only 111 runs behind at 48-2 by stumps.

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"It is the sort of wicket you can go bang, bang, bang on and get two or three early in the morning," he said. "If we do that, we are right back in the game."

Having posted his eighth Test fifty, his first of the series, Strauss had the dubious distinction of becoming Shane Warne's 700th Test victim.

"It was a great moment for a great bowler," he said.