Alastair Cook charged to his maiden double century and Jonathan Trott hit his second hundred,ashes test cricket,england test cricket

Lunch England 1 for 439 (Cook 201*, Trott 100*) and 260 lead Australia 481 by 218 runs

	Alastair Cook continued his commanding display as he moved to a maiden double hundred Enlarge

Alastair Cook charged to his maiden first-class double century and Jonathan Trott hit his second hundred against Australia as England piled on the agony for the home side at the Gabba. The pair took their mammoth partnership to 251, the best second-wicket stand for England in Australia, while Cook's unbeaten 201 is the highest score by a visiting batsman on this ground. The hosts dropped the one chance that came their way during a morning to forget and England's lead stood at 218 after Trott reached three figures in the last over before the break.

It was a morning of landmarks and records as England thundered along to add 130 runs during the session. Cook's 200 came from 361 balls - with the help of a fumble at fine leg - and Trott's elegant, composed hundred arrived off 213 when he flicked Xavier Doherty through midwicket. This was the first time England's top three had made hundreds in an Ashes Test and the first time against anyone since 1924.

England began the day knowing they weren't out of danger despite yesterday's heroics and there were more than a few mentions of what happened in Adelaide four years ago. However, this time there was no Shane Warne to spin the batsmen into submission. Instead, Cook and Trott continued as they had done the previous evening by scoring at a rapid pace against unthreatening bowling and by lunch it was just a question of how many overs England wanted at demoralised opponents.

Cook's first boundary of the day was an edge through the slips - very similar to 24 hours previously - and he had another stroke of fortune when he under-edged a pull over his stumps. As with Mike Hussey, though, a batsman who fights hard deserves a little bit of help. Trott, meanwhile, got his day going with a brace of boundaries off Peter Siddle and it soon became clear more toil was ahead for Australia.

Cook reached his 150 from 302 balls as the second-wicket ticked off a number of partnership records. Ricky Ponting set fairly defensive fields and a number of edges flew through gaps in the slips, but Australia couldn't even take the one chance that came their when Michael Clarke dropped a sitter at slip when Trott, on 75, tried to guide Shane Watson to third man. Ponting just continued to chew his gum and the home side were deflated.

Mitchell Johnson, meanwhile, went through a horrid spell to give his confidence another pounding. He tried over and round the wicket to both batsmen, but his match was summed up when he sprayed a terrible bouncer miles down the leg side against Trott which flew for five wides. Steve Harmison, a pundit back in the UK, may just have allowed himself a glimmer of a smile.

England teams have been through years of pain in Australia, and especially at the Gabba, and the two batsmen were on no mood to let up. Cook passed his previous best of 173, made against Bangladesh earlier this year at Chittagong, with a flowing cover drive off Watson and Trott following that with two deft late cuts against Doherty.

Cook showed his confidence by advancing at Doherty and launching him high over midwicket - a shot he work on during the tour of Bangladesh in March - then picked off the left-arm spinner through cover when he overpitched. There was some encouragement for Doherty when he found huge turn from the footmarks, but to sum up Australia's day they both spun past Brad Haddin for four byes.