England has saved some face but still stares at heavy defeat on Monday on the final day of the Boxing Day Test.

Stuart MacGill was proud of his effort on Sunday but Michael Vaughan was kicking himself for "an absolutely crap shot" after day four at the MCG, when Australia took longer than expected to assume control.

Vaughan, the inspiration for an England fightback that dragged an Ashes Test into a fifth day for the first time this summer, made 145 in England's second innings of 387.

Vaughan was adamant that he should have powered on towards 200 and beyond to help set Australia a more demanding victory target.

Chasing just 107 runs for a 4-nil series lead, Australia was 0-8 at stumps with openers Justin Langer (four) and Matthew Hayden (one) untroubled.

Vaughan did the major damage as MacGill's first 13 overs were carted for 61 runs.

He smashed the leg spinner for a six over mid-off into the middle of the Barmy Army and then swept him to the boundary behind square leg in consecutive balls, only to fall next delivery.

He attempted to steer a quicker delivery from MacGill to third man but succeeded only in giving Martin Love a catch at first slip.

"It was an absolute crap shot," said Vaughan, who became the leading Test scorer in the world this year with 1,481 runs at an average of 61.7.

"I just felt if I had have been there when we went past them, we could have maybe set them a target of more like 200 than what we have set them now."

MacGill celebrated Vaughan's dismissal with a mixture of jubilation and relief. The Yorkshireman hit the turf with his bat, then kicked it, then walked off.

MacGill fought back from the pounding he took from Vaughan to finish with a highly respectable 5-152 from 48 overs.

"The thing that made me proud was that following difficult patches, where the batsmen really did get on top, I was able to pull myself together a bit and put my mark on the game again," he said.

"To sneak one through there (against Vaughan) was a really big victory for me."

Australia remained on track for the the first 5-nil cleansweep since Warwick 'The Big Ship' Armstrong's side pounded England by the same margin in 1920-21.

Resuming at 2-111 this morning, needing a further 170 runs to make Australia bat, England lost Nasser Hussain for 23 early when the captain fell victim to one of Glenn McGrath's subtle slower balls.

Hussain was through his shot too soon, the ball hit the splice of his bat and lobbed gently to McGrath for a simple catch.

At 3-169, the wheels were expected to fall off, but Vaughan punished MacGill and Robert Key (52) hung around long enough to wipe out England's first-innings defect of 281.

When Australia took the second new ball at 4-286, England added only one more run before Key was caught at second slip by Ricky Ponting off Jason Gillespie.

Love made the first mistake of his debut when he dropped a difficult waist-high chance off MacGill from John Crawley on 20. Crawley reached 33 as England's most likely saviour - rain - began to fall lightly but then it cleared up.

England was 63 runs ahead when Craig White (21) was caught behind off MacGill attempting a similar shot to Vaughan, walking without bothering to wait for the umpire to raise his finger. For that, White was a rarity this match.

MacGill and Love combined again to send Jamie Foster on his way for six, then MacGill bowled a rank long hop that Andy Caddick (ten) sliced to Steve Waugh at cover. Marcus Trescothick was lbw to MacGill on day three.

Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath didn't return to the field after tea because of soreness and stiffness in his back. His condition will be assessed in the morning - just before he begins another likely round of celebrations.

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