Live Commentary: The Ashes - Fifth Test, Day Two - as it happened

Good morning and welcome to the live commentary of day two of the fifth Ashes Test between England and Australia at The Oval.

The Baggy Greens put themsevles in a strong position on day one at The Oval after being inserted by Alastair Cook. David Warner and Steve Smith scored half-centuries to leave Michael Clarke's men at 287-3 at the close of play. Chris Rogers and Adam Voges also made contributions, but Clarke was to fall for 15, on what could be his final innings in Test cricket.

England's bowlers were unable to re-create the magic from Trent Bridge as Stuart Broad went wicketless on day one. The Baggy Greens appeared to be playing him a lot differently at The Oval compared to their efforts in the third Test when it seemed they were solely playing woith the edge of their bats. Steven Finn also struggled as the Australians put in disciplined performance.

Mark Wood was the pick of the England bowlers from day one as he snagged the wicket of Rogers for 43, but he also had no luck as Smith and Voges escaped near misses with inside edges and looping catches which fell just short of fielders. Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali also picked up one wicket each as Ali snagged the scalp of Warner for 85, while Stokes had Clarke caught behind for 15.

Wood admitted that England need three quick wickets to get back into the match today, and although the Aussies have collapsed a few times in this series, it will be hard going removing two batsmen who are well set at the crease. The pitch appears to be flatter than at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge so the Baggy Greens could be line to set a huge total today.

Voges may have just done enough to keep his place in the Australia side for after the series. The 35-year-old endured a miserable first six innings against the Three Lions as he failed to notch a score over 50, but he did show resilience at Trent Bridge in the second innings at Trent Bridge to grind out his first half-century of the series. A century could be enough to keep him in the side for their trip to Bangaladesh, despite his advancing years. A big day for Voges.

This could also be a big day for Ali because he has faced criticism for his bowling. With England's tour of the UAE on the horizon and spinning pitches expected, he may face a challenge to hold on to his place in the side, despite providing valuable runs down the order for Cook's men.

The weather seems to be okay this morning, all but a little cloudy which coudl provide some swing for England this morning, although the ball did very little yesterday.

Here come England and Australia on to the field. Smith begins the day on 78 not out, 22 runs short of a potential 11th Test match century, while Voges starts on 47 not out.

Finn will finish the final two deliveries of his off which was called short due to bad light last night. We're all ready for the off. Let's go!

Finn tests Smith with a short delivery which he fens off with ease, while his second delivery is left outside the off stump. England can now take the new ball.

England have taken the new ball and Broad will open today from the Pavillion End.

Good start for Broad with the new ball as he zips one into Voges, who just gets an inside edge on the ball to prevent it smashing into his pads in front of the wicket. Broad struggles for his best rhythm as he bowls a no ball off the sixth delivery of the over to allow the Aussies two runs off his first over of the day.

Wood will share the new ball from the Vauxhall End.

Maiden from Wood to begin his first spell of the day. He pitches the ball on a full length to test Voges, but the batsman refuses to play a shot, allowing the ball to travel through to Buttler. Wood tries to pitch the ball up with a yorker to end the over, but Voges manages to dig it out.

A maiden from Broad this time as only a leg bye come off the over. Broad persists with a full lenghth in an attempt to get the Aussie batsman driving at the ball, but neither Smith or Voges have been tempted yet this morning.

Wood's line is wide at Smith for the first four balls of the over, but the 26-year-old allows the ball to carry through to Buttler. He finally makes Smith play with a straight ball, but the batsman fends the rising delivery off with ease. Easy going for Australia so far this morning.

Voges reaches his half-century, his second of the series, as he cuts the ball to the boundary off the back foot as Broad drops a ball short and wide. A good knock from the veteran, who struggled immensely at the start of the series. He gets a single to get off strike, and Smith fends off the rest of the over from Broad.

Wood pitches the ball in his third over of the day and nearly gets the through the defences of Voges, but he manages to get the ball through the offside for a single. Wood keeps his full length to Smith, but he overpitches and is punished as the 26-year-old drives him through cover to the boundary for his first runs of the day. 300 up for Australia.

Voges has lived a charmed life at times in this innings and that continues as he manages to edge the ball behind him into the ground, but the ball bounces over the top of the stumps. The Aussie then compounds his fortune to Broad by clipping him through mid-wicket for two and then again in the next ball for three runs. Frustrating start to the morning for the Three Lions.

Wood bowls a decent line outside the off stump, but Voges resists the temptation to drive at the ball. Wood then drops short and Voges is on to the ball quickly to find the gap on the boundary to pull the ball for four. It has been a really good start to the morning for the Baggy Greens.

Frustration for Broad as he drops back his lenghth in an apparent new plan by Cook. He has two men out on the hook for Voges as Broad fires the ball into the pitch around the wicket, but Smith and Voges are equal to the deliveries as the ball barely bounces at chest height. Four singles off the over as the duo rotate the strike with ease.

Finn will replace Wood at the Vauxhall End.

Finn bowls a decent line outside the off stump to Voges, but once again the 35-year-old maintains his discipline to not play at the ball. Finn then slides into his pads and this time Voges does cash in with a clip to the boundaring, moving to 69.

Broad comes out of the attack as Stokes replaces him at the Pavillion End.

Not the best opening over from Stokes as he bowls several looseners at Smith, who carves him away for two and single to hand Voges the strike. The Durham man drops short and Voges crashes the ball through backward point for four, and then steals the strike for the next over with a single through mid-wicket. Not great going for England this morning.

Smith gets into the 90s as he cuts Finn through point to the boundary after the Middlesex man dropped short. The 26-year-old looks on course for his second century of the series. The pitch looks very flat and Alastair Cook maybe regretting his decision to insert the Baggy Greens yesterday.

FINALLY! A breakthrough this morning for England as Stokes manages to hoop the ball back into the pads of Voges, and this time he does not get an inside edge to save himself. The ball hits him right in line and looks plum, but he reviews it anyway. The review shows the ball to be striking middle stump so a waste there, but still a good innings by Voges.

Finn is furious with himself as he bowls a huge no ball which costs him the wicket of Smith. His foot wasn't even close to being behind the line as Smith played one of the worst shots you will ever see to edge behind to Buttler, but he gets a reprieve on 92. The 26-year-old gets away with another poor shot with a play and miss, with perhaps a slight tinge of nerves in the 90s. A slight opening for England here.

Mitchell Marsh is the new man at the crease and he manages to get off the mark with an edge down to third man, which gets him a couple of runs. He then gets a single to steal the strike for the next over. Solid start from the all-rounder as Smith sees off the rest of the over.

Maiden from Finn as he tests the defences of Marsh at his off-stump. The Middlesex man produces a consistent line, but Marsh manages to fend off the challenge from the England paceman with a solid defensive technique.

Stokes bowls the ball well wide of the off stump to try to get Smith to drive at the ball, but when the Australian does make contact he crashes the ball to the fence to move to 96. Stokes gets a bit too carried away with the wide line and umpire Dharmasena signals for a wide, which the bowler does not look too happy about. Smith come within inches of bringing up his century, but Bairstow gets a hand on the ball to stop his cover drive from penetrating the infield.

Finn gets his 100th Test match wicket at last. Two overs after he should have got the wicket of Smith he snags the scalp of Marsh, who never looked comfortable at the crease, as he plays at a wide delivery and edges the ball to slip. Bell takes a good catch above his head in the slip cordon and England may have a way to get into the Aussie tail now. Peter Nevill is the new batsman.

Maiden from Stokes with an excellent over at Smith. The batsman definitely has a case of the nervous 90s as he reaches for the ball at every opportunity. Stokes nearly gets him with a good ball outside the off stump which Smith plays at and misses the ball by a millimetre. He's chancing his luck out there, but he still needs three runs to reach his century.

Third maiden in a row for England as Finn bowls a good over to Nevill. The 26-year-old squares up the Aussie wicket-keeper with a seaming delivery on off stump, which just misses the edge. Finn's in a good rhythm this morning.

Smith pushes nearer to the century with couple of singles in the over as he plays the ball of his pads twice down to fine leg as Stokes' line proves to be too straight. Nevill gets off the mark by helping a loose delivery down the leg side to the boundary, but Stokes gets back at him with the final ball with a snorter that hits him in the chest.

CENTURY FOR SMITH! England bring Moeen Ali into the attack to try to tempt Smith into a loose shot, but he manages to power a stroke through the leg side and fumble from Stokes allows him to bring up his 11th Test match century. Well played!

Smith gets back on strike in the over as Nevill takes a quick single, and he launches Ali over his head with a huge six down the ground. He seems determined to get his spot as the world number one back, and will be very grateful to Finn for his no ball which gave him a second chance on 92.

Stokes maybe showing the first signs of fatigue in this over as his line and length desert him. Nevill is able to pick him off for a couple down the leg side, while the England man is forced to bowl an extra delivery after sending a ball well over the head of Smith.

Smith works the ball behind square leg and Broad misses the ball with a dive. He tries to stop the ball from crossing the boundary and appears to do so until replays show it had in fact crashed into the rope. Smith gets away with two horrendous strokes when he plays across the line to Ali as the ball somehow misses the outside edge and the stumps on both occasions.

Joe Root comes into the attack just before lunch.

Nevill comes down the track and lifts a delivery from Root over the top of mid-wicket to the boundary and then manages to squeeze a single down to third man. Probably best for him to take the strike at the moment as Smith is going through a bad patch in his innings, despite notching his century.

A ball after edging the ball to the boundary, Nevill goes for 18 to one of the worst shots you may see in Test cricket as he tries to pull a short delivery from Ali to the boundary, but the ball crashes off his gloves and Buttler snags an good catch behind the stumps. Good work by the keeper.

England are right back in this game now as Ali strikes again to remove the dangerous Mitchell Johnson on the stroke of lunch. Ali floated the ball full and it did just enough to deviate away from the left-hander to cannon into his off stump. Game on now!

The dismissal of Johnson signals lunch! It's been a curious morning of cricket as Australia looked to be in command of the game in the first hour, but the departure of Adam Voges seemed to unsettle the order. Steve Smith got to his century, but he was far from convincing in the middle, and was grateful for a reprieve from Steven Finn from a no ball. Mitchell Marsh's struggles with the bat continued as he never looked comfortable against Finn, while Peter Nevill departed to a terrible shot off the bowling of Ali, who then struck again to remove Mitchell Johnson.

Australia's hopes now rest on Smith to see if he can get them up to 450 and above as a score of around 400 seems to be only par on this pitch. England can take hope from the final over that they can take the remanining wickets to skittle the Baggy Greens out for less than 400 after lunch and get batting this afternoon.

Just before we take a break for lunch, news that former England bowler Chris Tremlett has retired from cricket at the age of 33. The fast-bowler played 12 Test matches for England and 15 one-day internationals. He took 53 wickets in his 12 Test matches and will be best remembered for his performances in helping the Three Lions record a 3-1 triumph over Australia in the 2010-11 Ashes series Down Under. For more on this story click here.

The players are making their way back out to the middle for the second session of the day. Mitchell Starc is the new man at the crease to face Moeen Ali's final delivery of his 13th over.

Starc is solid in defence for the final ball of the over. Wood will now begin from the Pavillion End after lunch.

A loose start to the over by Wood as he drops short with his first delivery and allows Smith to pull him to the boundary. The seamer then reverts to the tactic of bowling wide outside the off stump to the 26-year-old, but he goes too far across and a wide is signalled by Dharmasena.

Ali drops short with his first ball of the over and Starc nudges the ball down to fine leg for a couple of runs, which he then follows up with a fine cut short for four. He then shows his talent with the bat once more by finding the gap in the field to run a quick single to take the strike.

Better from Wood as he bowls a maiden to Starc. The Durham bowlers found a tight line in at the off stump of the left hander and drew one false shot as he played and missed.

Smith steals a single off the first ball of the over and the England field closes as Starc comes on strike. The left-hander gets away with a loose drive as his shot flies up in the air, but lands safely and races away to the boundary. He and Smith then rotate the strike well to leave the centurion facing Wood in the next over.

Wood has found a good rhythm after lunch as he keeps a tight line to Smith just outside the off stump, giving the 26-year-old no room to put his hand through the ball. He can only offer defensive strokes down the ground to keep the paceman at bay.

Austrailia bring up the 400! Starc gets his side moving in the over with a mistimed shot which travels down to fine leg for three runs, while the landmark is reached when collect two leg byes down the legside. Smith ends the over by showing his wrist strength by sweeping a delivery from Ali to the fence.

Wood continues to bowl well without any luck as he tries to come around the wicket to Starc. His first delivery gets smashed through the covers to the boundary, but he comes back with an excellent ball that just misses the outside edge. Wood ends the over with a full delivery that crashes into the pads of the left-hander, but it was sailing well down the leg side.

Ali ruins a decent over with a poor ball on his final delivery with half-tracker to Starc which he powers through point to the boundary. The left-hander has looked good at the crease so far.

Curious change by Cook as Stokes replaces Wood in the attack and he struggles to find his rhythm in his first over. Starc fires three runs through cover before handing the strike to Smith. The 26-year-old cuts the ball between slip and gully to the boundary. 11 runs come off the over.

Starc brings up the 50 partnership by crashing Ali over the top of mid-on and over the boundary for six. The next ball Starc takes the aerial route agains to register another boundary. The left-hander reaches 36 off just 31 balls, but almost loses his wicket when he smashes the ball into his foot, but Bairstow cannot react at short leg.

Starc and Smith ease singles off the bowling of Stokes after taking the attack to Ali in the last over. Smith moves on to 132, while Starc is on 38.

DROPPED! Root comes into the attack and almost snags the wicket of Starc when he clips the ball to Wood at square leg, but he just cannot hold on as his elbows hit the ground. Root had come close with his previous delivery as Starc tried to smash the ball out of the ground, but the ball turned away and missed the outside edge by millimetres.

Starc continues to frustrate England and Stokes when he edges the ball through the slips and the ball travels to the boundary. He then displays an impressive stroke through the legside for another boundary to leave him on 49 not out at the end of the over.

Starc brings up his 50 with a quick single, his sixth half-century in Test match cricket. He has had some luck today, but he has played some exceptional shots since lunch. Smith continues his fine innings by running a couple, taking on the arm of Ali in the deep. England have been very loose since the lunch break.

Smith carves a four through the slips with a delightful cut shot as Australia seek to add quick runs to their total. Stokes seems to be toiling in the field after his 27th over.

Finn comes back into the attack and snags the wicket of Smith for 143. The 26-year-old was shaping to cut the ball through point, but he inside edged the ball on to his stumps. It brings an end to a fine innings from the future Australia captain as he notched his 11th Test match century. Finn will have bittersweet feelings about the wicket as he should have had Smith for 92, which has cost his side 51 runs.

Peter Siddle is the new man at the crease and nearly loses his wicket as he plays and misses three times in the over from Finn.

Starc's defiant innings comes to an end after he smashes two boundaries through the offside, one of the edge of the bat and the other through cover. However, he misses a straight ball from Stokes, and although umpire Dharmasena does not raise the finger England review, and the ball is shown to be hitting the stumps.

Finn goes past the bat of Siddle twice in the over and he is almost run out by Bairstow, but the Yorkshire man narrowly missed the stumps with his throw from distance. This duo can frustrate England further by delaying the start of their reply.

Nathan Lyon does his best to try and penetrate the offside but is stopped twice by Ali at cover. However, on the final ball of the over, the spinner does find the boundary with the best drive of the innings down the ground.

Finn ends the Australia innings as Siddle finally connects with the edge of his bat and the ball sails to Lyth, who makes a good diving catch at gully. Nice catch from the opener, who now has to strap his pads on and face off against Starc and Johnson in perhaps the most important innings of his career.

Cook would not have anticipated that his side would be behind by such a big margin going into their first innings, but his side were thwarted by excellent batting from Smith, Warner, Voges and Starc, meaning England have a lot of work to do to get themsevles back into the contest.

Here come Cook and Lyth for the England innings. Starc will open the bowling for Australia from the Pavillion End.

Lyth gets off the mark with an bottom edge that hits the ground and goes through the slip cordon and to the boundary. Lyth then chooses to allow the remaining three balls of the over to pass through to Nevill.

Cook edges his first ball through gully with a thick outside edge and the ball races to the boundary. The delivery from Johnson was a huge no ball, but the umpire failed to make the call. The England captain watches the bounce of the pitch by allowing the rest of Johnson's over to pass into the hands of Nevill.

England take the attack to Johnson as Cook collects two runs off the first ball of the over, while he then pulls him through mid-wicket for his second boundary of the innings. Johnson overcompensates by pitching the ball up and Cook clips the ball through the legside again for three runs, before Lyth pulls off an identical shot which sails to the boundary.

Cook finds the boundary again off the bowling of Starc as he edges the ball through the gully region again to move to 17, and he notches a single to return the strike to Lyth. Starc produces a good delivey which strikes Lyth on the pad, but it has just too much height to be considered lbw.

Lyon comes into the attack to replace Johnson.

Lyon pitches the ball to Cook, but the England captain is resolute in defence. Cook waits for Lyon to drop short and then drills him off the back foot through point for four. A solid start by Cook.

Starc is giving some trouble to Lyth as he pitches the ball up and strikes him on the pads, but the ball was sliding down the legside. The left-armer comes back with a great delivery which just missed the outside edge of Lyth's bat.

Cook goes right on the stroke of tea as gets a beauty from Lyon, which pitches on leg stump and turns back rapidly to clip the top of off-stump and dismiss the England captain for 22. Not Cook's best game for the Three Lions.

England lose their first wicket right on the stroke of tea, and it's a huge blow for them to lose Cook as he has the ability to score big runs to eat into Australia's total. A lot pressure sits on Lyth now.

Ian Bell comes out at number three at England, joining Lyth in the middle. There are five balls remaining in the over from Lyon.

Bell gets off the mark with a quick single into the offside, while Lyth gets into rhythm with a cut off the back foot the boundary.

Another single by Bell and Lyth rotates the strike with a single into the legside. Starc is searching for a rhythm in the innings after a mixed start from the Pavillion End.

Better from Starc as he gets a good bouncer into the ribs of Bell, which produces a false shot, but the ball bounces safely. Lyth produces a good punch down the ground to notch a couple runs, but Starc responds with a good yorker that Lyth just digs out.

Lyth produces another good cut shot off the back foot to find the boundary to take his score to 19, while Bell continues to knock the ball around into gaps.

Lyth departs for 19 after looking good at the crease. Siddle picks up a wicket with his second ball and it's a terrible way to get out for the Yorkshireman as he tries to pull the ball, but only lofts it into the air where Starc takes a comfortable catch at mid-wicket. That could well spell the end for Lyth in Test cricket.

Joe Root comes into the middle once again this series with England in a little bit of trouble, but he gets off the mark with a boundary over the top of gully.

Maiden for Australia as Bell cannot get a run of Lyon's over. The spinner keeps a tight line on the stumps to Bell, who displays good defensive technique to keep him at bay.

Johnson comes back into the attack to replace Siddle and tests Root with a good line outside of off stump, which has the number one batsman feeling for the ball, but it does not produce the outside edge. Johnson comes back with a bouncer to end the over, which Root ducks under with ease.

Siddle comes back into the attack at the Vauxhall End. He starts with a beauty to Bell just outside the off stump, which the batsman avoids by a millimetre. Siddle continues to get movement off the seam, but his line is slightly too wide to trouble Bell for the rest of the over.

Yet another maiden for Australia as Johnson produces one good ball in the over, directed at the body of Root, but the ball drops at his feet rather than to Rogers at short leg. Root then allows the ball to pass through to Nevill for the rest of the over.

Runs at last for England as Bell drives the ball through the covers to the boundary off the bowling of Siddle after previously allowing five balls to pass through to Nevill. Excellent shot from the England number three.

Johnson sends down a maiden over, but replays that he overstepped the line in at least once in his over. Further evidence shows that he has stepped over the line at least eight times during his five overs, none of which have been called by the umpires. Very poor from the men in the middle.

Root shows patience at the crease to wait for the ball to drift into his pads to clip it away for two runs through mid-wicket. Siddle then sends a delivery down which swings well after the bat and allows England through for a bye.

Mitchell Marsh comes into the attack to replace Johnson.

Marsh produces a gem of a delivery that swings away from Root at the last second and nearly produces the edge, but fortunately for Root he misses the ball. Just the leg bye for England off the over as Root tried to glance the ball off his hip.

CLOSE! Siddle produces an excellent over at Root as he forces an edge with his third delivery, which drops short of Clarke at first slip. In the final ball of the over he swings the ball back into the pads of the England number four, but umpire Dar is not interested, while Siddle and Clarke opt against a review. Hawk-eye shows that the ball was missing the stumps, so a good call by the Aussies there.

Just a single for Bell off the bowling of Marsh, who seems to be pitching the ball a tad short on this pitch.

Siddle produces a moment of magic to get rid of Bell as the ball pitches on middle stump and moves slightly away from Bell to strike the top of the bails to send the number three on his way back to the pavillion. An excellent delivery.

Bairstow is the new man at the crease for England.

Baristow gets off the mark with a push through the covers off the bowling of Siddle.

Root goes in controverial circumstances as the umpire Dharmasena gives him not out after Marsh and the slips went up for a catch behind. Clarke reviewed the decision and after much deliberation the third umpire Ravi, decided to overturn the decision based on evidence that the Snick showed a slight mark when the ball past the bat. However, hot spot showed no mark.

Bairstow works two on to the legside off the bowling of Siddle to keep the scoreboard ticking over. England need an innings of substance from him and the new man at the crease Ben Stokes to get back into the game.

Stokes gets off the mark with a crisp drive down the ground off the bowling of Marsh. The ball was pitched up and the all-rounder made no mistake drilling the ball to the boundary.

Bairstow follows the lead of Stokes by drilling the returning Lyon down the ground to the boundary, while the all-rounder notches his second four of the innings with an thick edge that beats Clarke at slip and travels to the fence at third man. Bairstow ends the over with another neat flick for two.

Bairstow goes and his problem with short-pitched deliveries continues as he picks out Lyon in the deep when trying to hook a rising ball from Johnson. He didn't commit to the shot and could be the reason why he has lost his wicket. England in real trouble as Jos Buttler comes to the crease.

Buttler's poor series continues as he is beaten all ends up by a delivery from Lyon. He fails to get to the pitch of the ball and it goes right between bat and pad to clatter into the stumps.

Ali comes to the crease and sees off the rest of the over from Lyon. England are in dire straits here.

Ali wears one from Johnson courtesy of a ferocious bouncer from the left-arm quick, but he manages to reain his composure to see off the over and give England some respite for now.

Single off the over from Stokes as he cuts a short delivery from Lyon to the fence, but there is now a fielder there to prevent the boundary. Strange considering Australia's dominance.

Stokes carves a couple through the covers to keep the scoreboard ticking off the bowling of Johnson.

Ali and Stokes rotate the strike off the bowling of Lyon to get England moving towards the 100-run mark.

Stokes sums up his side's dismal performance with the bat as he tries to pull Marsh to the boundary and skies his effort into the hands of Nevill, who takes a comfortable catch. Awful batting display.

Broad becomes the next victim as Marsh squares him up on the crease and produces the leading edge which Voges snatches with ease at first slip. Broad fended at that when he didn't need to, but he should not be at the crease at this stage of the innings.

Siddle gives Ali all sorts of trouble outside his off stump as barely escapes without edging the ball. The pitch was very flat when Australia were batting and now it seems like a minefield for the England batsmen.

Wood escapes the walk back to the pavilion after he edged the ball right down the throat of Voges at first slip, but Marsh's front foot was over the line and a no ball was called. Wood notched two boundaries in the over 100-run mark.

Siddle produces a couple of sublime deliveries that Wood does well to miss. The 30-year-old has got more out of this pitch than any other bowler in the Test match.

Another fine delivery from Marsh at Wood nearly leads to another wicket, but the Durham man holds out to stem the side.

Siddle will bowl the final over of the day.

Ali knocks the ball around the corner to fine leg to notch a boundary, and he then sees off the over from Siddle to leave England at 107-8 at the end of day two. The Three Lions are 374 runs behind the Baggy Greens.

Day two of the fifth Test belongs to Australia as they set an imposing total of 481 against Alastair Cook's men before dismantling the England batting lineup. The shot selection of the Three Lions' players was poor, but Peter Siddle and Mitchell Marsh bowled well enough to force some mistakes, leaving the hosts in a lot of trouble.

Thanks for joining our coverage today, be sure to join us against tomorrow for day three of the fifth Test, until then goodbye.