Brett Lee went unrewarded for his hostile opening spell as the Australian pace attack failed to puncture the England Lions' top order at Worcester last night.
In reply to Australia's 358, the Lions were 0-64 at lunch with Stephen Moore (32no) and Joe Denly (25no) unbeaten in sunny conditions.
Australia's first innings was wrapped up early on day two with Mike Hussey out for 150 and Steve Harmison finishing with figures of 4-80.
Lee, who is battling it out with Stuart Clark for the last guaranteed pace bowling spot in next week's Ashes opener at Cardiff, should have had a wicket with his first ball of the innings.
Lee (0-7 off five overs and regularly clocking in the high 140km/h range) struck Moore plumb in front. Replays showed the ball crashed into his pad before deflecting on to his bat.
Lee mounted a concerted appeal but was turned down by umpire Jeffrey Evans at the picturesque New Road.
He tried to take his frustrations out on the batsmen and the last ball of his second over cannoned into Denly's shoulder.
But despite his combination of speed and accuracy, Lee was unable to make any inroads in his fiery five-over spell.
Mitchell Johnson (0-32), who missed last week's opening practice match in Hove, looked like he was working his way into the match while Stuart Clark (0-6 off four overs) kept it tight.
Nathan Hauritz's (0-15) introduction sped up the run rate, the off-spinner being hit for two boundaries in his opening over.
Meanwhile, Hussey credited his enforced rest in assisting his return to form.
He shook off his batting blues of the past eight months in the 359-minute knock after having only scored one half-century in his past 12 Test innings. He hit 19 fours and faced 234 balls.
Against an attack that included four English Test seamers and the nation's great spin hope Adil Rashid, Australia reached 8-337 at stumps on the opening day.
The left-handed Hussey said sitting out the limited-overs series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in April/May had freshened him up for the tour of England.
''I think when you are in the bubble of international cricket you don't really how much it does really effect you,'' he said.
''I actually felt OK in South Africa but talking to my coach he reckons I look a lot different now then I did by the end of the one-day series [in South Africa].
''He said I looked a lot fresher and lot more enthusiastic.
''I don't feel too much different but obviously other people that I trust and respect what they say, did see a change in me so I guess the break was definitely a good thing for me.''
Hussey was always going to fall victim to the gruelling travel schedule demanded on international players that compete in all three forms of the game.
The 34-year-old said he had tried to remain patient during his slump after having made such a sensational start to his international career.
''You have to expect there will be a period of time when things do not go to plan and runs do not come as freely as you would like,'' he said.
''I was very prepared for a period of time when things were not going to work. But it was important just to stick to what I know and the way I prepare and know if I stick to those things long enough then I still have some some good scores left in me for Australia.''
Simon Katich (95) set himself up for Ashes redemption with a fluent knock, while Mitchell Johnson (47) provided England with a glimpse of his damaging blade in a knock that included hitting Rashid out of the ground.
But Marcus North continued his lean trot, the No6 batsman now has tour scores of 1, 11 and 1. AAP