Ashley Giles reclaimed Old Trafford as a favourite venue for English spinners with another key contribution to leave Australia battling for survival in the third Ashes Test.

Warwickshire's left-arm spinner continued his revival following a disappointing display in the opening Test at Lord's by claiming three key wickets to leave the tourists on 210 for seven in reply to England's 444 by the close of the second day.

Giles' dismissals of Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn meant Australia still need a further 35 runs to avoid the prospect of following on for the first time in an Ashes Test since Brisbane in 1986.

Giles was regarded by some misguided critics as being surplus to requirements after the 239-run defeat at Lord's but has bounced back strongly to make important contributions in the next two Tests, taking seven wickets in the second Test thriller at Edgbaston.

It was Giles that captain Michael Vaughan turned to in a desperate attempt to halt Australia's ominous reply when Langer and Hayden had forged an unbroken 58-run stand.

He struck with his fifth ball to end Langer's stubborn innings, who was brilliantly caught at short leg by Ian Bell pushing forward.

In recent years Manchester's Test venue, established in cricket's folklore as the stage for Jim Laker's 19-wicket haul in 1956, has been more successful for England's opponents.

Shane Warne produced the so-called 'ball of the century' here in 1993, his six-wicket haul four years later and Saqlain Mushtaq's four-wicket return to clinch Pakistan's victory in 2001.

But this time Giles was the dominant force to claim three of Australia's top four batsman and open the gates for England's impressive seamers.

Simon Jones, whose ability to reverse-swing the ball was always likely to be a key factor at Old Trafford, kept the momentum generated by Giles going by removing Ricky Ponting with the first ball after tea.

The ball bounced higher than the Australia skipper expected and he guided a looping catch straight to gully.

Three overs later Giles' increasing influence on the fluctuating fortunes of the day became apparent when Hayden, who had battled for nearly two hours for his 34, was given leg before to a turning delivery on the back foot.

At 82 for three Australia were already in trouble and their crisis was heightened by emerging batsman Michael Clarke being unable to bat until number seven because of the time he had spent off the field with a bad back since the second over of the match.

That forced Simon Katich up the order to combine with Martyn in a key 33-run stand which appeared to have stabilised Australia's innings.

However, Katich shouldered arms to the first delivery after a drinks break and lost his off-stump to all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.

Martyn followed three overs later, beaten by Giles' turn as he pushed forward defensively with the ball clipping the top of off-stump.

Giles continued his spell for the remainder of the day from that end while captain Vaughan shuffled his impressive pack of seamers with Flintoff and Simon Jones being given the responsibility to make further inroads.

Adam Gilchrist once again played a restrained innings, taking 74 minutes to score 30 runs, and had looked capable of making England pay for dropping him twice off one over from Flintoff for 12 and 13.

Yet to score a half-century in the series largely because of Australia's struggling top order, Gilchrist's first reprieve was presented by Bell failing to take a sharp catch in the gully and two balls later he drove hard to cover where Kevin Pietersen fluffed the chance.

Once again the first ball of a new spell unsettled Gilchrist and he edged Jones behind just six overs before the close and was followed four overs later by Clarke, batting with a runner, who lofted the same bowler straight to mid-off.

England had earlier resumed on 341 for five aiming to reach a total of around 450, but lost Bell to the 19th ball of the day when he edged Brett Lee behind off an attempted pull, although television replays suggested he had failed to get the edge.

Flintoff and Geraint Jones raised the spirits of the partisan crowd with an 87-run stand, but when both players came within sight of their half-centuries they fell in quick succession as England lost four wickets for 11 runs in 11 balls to end the innings just three overs after lunch.