For England, the principal resistance came from veteran opening batsman John Edrich and David Steele, who received a maiden international cap after a decade of county cricket for Northants and whose silver-haired, bespectacled appearance led the press to dub him "the bank clerk who went to war".

Nonetheless, in the absence of Geoffrey Boycott, the batting was again broadly unable to withstand the pace-bowling partnership of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, with swing bowler Max Walker providing admirable support; the trio shared 51 wickets in the four Tests.

The tour was Ian Chappell's last as captain; he met with considerable success with the bat, compiling Australia's highest aggregate, but announced his retirement from the captaincy following the final Test.

Steele set a platform for more positive contributions from new England captain Tony Greig (96) and Alan Knott (69), with Bob Woolmer (33), also on debut, shoring up the tail.

John Edrich (175) anchored England's second innings, sharing partnerships of 111 for the first wicket with Barry Wood (52), 104 for the second with Steele (45), 66 for the fourth with Graham Gooch (31).

Chasing a target of 445, contributions from Rick McCosker (95 not out) and Ian Chappell (62) led Australia to 220/3 at the close of the fourth day; with the match thus poised and McCosker set to make a maiden Test century, overnight pitch vandalism (carried out by supporters alleging the wrongful conviction of George Davis) ensured that no play was possible on the final day.