Mercurial paceman Mitchell Johnson found his inswinging form to help Australia skittle England for 187 and wrest back the initiative on a topsy-turvy second day of the third Ashes Test in Perth.
Mitchell smashed through England's top order then cleaned up the tail to finish with 6-38 in a brilliant return after he was dropped for the second test in Adelaide following a wayward, wicketless display in the opener in Brisbane.
The 29-year-old Queenslander's efforts sent Australia in to bat with an 81-run lead, but England's seamers hit back with three wickets after tea to leave Australia 119-3 at stumps.
Steve Finn removed Phillip Hughes for 12, coaxing a nick from the 22-year-old opener that went straight to Paul Collingwood's safe hands at third slip.
The young paceman then had Ricky Ponting caught behind for one, the struggling Australian captain feathering a catch off his glove to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
Ponting, who has not surpassed 12 runs in his past four innings, was given not out, but England successfully appealed the decision to ensure the embattled 35-year-old receives another harsh reception in Saturday's newspapers.
Michael Clarke smashed four boundaries in an aggressive 20-run cameo but undone himself by chasing a Chris Tremlett delivery onto his stumps as Australia wobbled on 64-3.
Clarke's dismissal brought the hosts' serial rescuer Mike Hussey to the crease and the 35-year-old left-hander proved rock-solid again, adding an unbeaten 24 in a 55-run stand with opener Shane Watson (61 not out) to see Australia to a 200-run lead at stumps.
Trailing 1-0 in the five-test series and harangued by a hostile local media after being bowled out for 268 on Thursday, Australia have seven wickets in hand and every hope of building a match-winning total on day three.
Scoreboard at stumps on the second day in the third Ashes Test between Australia and England at the WACA Ground
Australia 1st Innings 268
England 1st Innings
(Overnight 29-0)
Andrew Strauss c Haddin b Harris 52
Alistair Cook c Hussey b Johnson 32
Jonathan Trott lbw b Johnson 4
Kevin Pieterson lbw b Johnson 0
Paul Collingwood lbw b Johnson 5
Ian Bell c Ponting b Harris 53
Matt Prior b Siddle 12
Graeme Swann c Haddin b Harris 11
Chris Tremlett b Johnson 2
James Anderson c Watson b Anderson 0
Steve Finn not out 1
Extras (8b, 4lb, 1w, 2nb) 15
TOTAL: (all out) 187
Overs: 62.3.
Fall of wickets: 1-78, 2-82, 3-82, 4-94, 5-98, 6-145, 7-181, 8-186, 9-186.
Bowling: Ben Hilfenhaus 21-6-53-0 (1nb), Ryan Harris 15-4-59-3 (1w), Peter Siddle 9-2-25-1 (1nb), Mitchell Johnson 17.3-5-38-6.
Australia 2nd Innings
Shane Watson not out 61
Phil Hughes c Collingwood b Finn 12
Ricky Ponting c Prior b Finn 1
Michael Clarke b Tremlett 20
Mike Hussey not out 24
Extras (1nb) 1
TOTAL: (For three wickets) 119
Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-34, 3-64.
Bowling: James Anderson 11-5-25-0, Chris Tremlett 9-2-20-1, Steve Finn 9-1-48-2 (1nb), Graeme Swann 4-0-26-0.
Overs: 33.
Umpires: Marais Erasmus, South Africa, and Billy Doctrove, West Indies.
TV Umpire: Aleem Dar, Pakistan. Match Referee: Jeff Crowe, New Zealand.
Toss: won by England.
Series: England leads 1-0.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
