Ramprakash ton gives England hope
Mark Ramprakash's long wait for a Test hundred in England finally ended at The Oval today.
The Surrey and former Middlesex player reached the coveted three figures in his 54th home innings, then put his head down in the attempt to bat England to their follow on target of 442.
At 409 for eight, it is still a reachable figure on day four with Ramprakash unbeaten on 124 in 345 minutes (18 fours) and was given solid support by Darren Gough (17 not out) through the last 80 balls of an eventful third day in which Shane Warne became the sixth bowler to reach 400 wickets in Tests.
England fought all day while Warne pecked away at the innings, returning figures of 34-5-126-5 in another long, hot day in the field.
His '400' feat was the first by a spinner, the first by an Australian and second fastest after New Zealand's Sir Richard Hadlee.
Nasser Hussain and Usman Afzaal scored half-centuries, Afzaal's being his first in Test cricket.
Ramprakash shared half-century stands with Hussain, Afzaal and Gough and will face fresh Australian bowlers with 33 needed and only Phil Tufnell to come.
