FOR much of day two in Cardiff it looked like England could do with some pearls of wisdom from Newbridge youngster Lewes Jenkins.

When invited to bowl at the Australians at the Swalec Stadium on Tuesday he managed to lure opener Chris Rogers, as well reserve batsman Shaun Marsh, into an edge behind.

If 2009 is to go by then Jenkins, who will be playing for Newbridge Nitros in the upcoming NatWest Club T20 for under-19s, may have just done the left-hander a favour.

Six years ago it was young Newport spinner Imran Hassan who struck in the tune-up, getting the wicket of Paul Collingwood who went on to play the key role on day five when his marvellous 245-ball 74 helped save the Test.

This time Rogers played a superb knock up top for the Australians before nerves struck in the 90s and he fell to Chris Wood for 95, forced to trudge back after an ill-advised cut saw him caught behind. ‘What took you so long,’ Jenkins may have pondered.

Despite a few grumblings over the slow pitch it is shaping up to be an intriguing Test in Cardiff.

Fifteen wickets have fallen with runs scored at a good pace so while a draw is perhaps most likely, there should be some drama for the punters who have Sunday tickets.

Rogers’ efforts helped Australia finish on 264 for five, 166 behind after England posted 430.

There was some Welsh interest with a couple of spells on the field for veteran Glamorgan spinner Dean Cosker as 12th man, one while captain Alastair Cook recovered from an injury to a ‘delicate’ area when an edge fell just short of him at slip.

And the hosts can be pretty content after toiling hard on a sunny day but the graft must continue on what is expected to be a sweltering day three.

Moeen Ali was star of the morning, taking the attack to the tourists to allay fears of an early collapse to spark the Aussies into life.

The Worcestershire batsman struck an easy-on-the-eye 77 to help England post 430 with his eighth-wicket combination with Stuart Broad adding 52.

In 2009 they managed 435 thanks to some lusty late blows by Graeme Swann and it was his fellow spinner Ali that did the damage this time before edging an attempted drive off Mitchell Starc to Shane Watson at slip.

Starc ended with five for 114 but things didn’t go as well for his fellow left-armer Mitchell Johnson.

He followed day one hero Joe Root in becoming a centurion – the pace bowler, so devastating Down Under last time out, got a rousing reception from the Cardiff crowd at fine leg after enduring his worst Test figures of nought for 111.

Rogers and David Warner saw off a nasty period to lunch but the latter, who earlier had a LBW decision turned over on review after it pitched outside leg, was first to go with the score on 52 when superbly pouched by Cook at slip off James Anderson.

That brought world number one batsman Steve Smith to the middle but he fell for 33, once again caught by the captain, after getting himself in a terrible muddle facing Ali, poking the ball to short mid-on.

And three wickets fell in the final session with Wood removing Rogers and before Ali got the prized scalp of Aussie skipper Michael Clarke (38) with a sharp caught and bowled.

England kept the pressure on by keeping loose deliveries to a minimum and they reaped the reward with a bonus wicket when Adam Voges (31) drove Ben Stokes loosely to Anderson.