After a mere 90-year wait, a second woman will finally join Peggy Antonio up on the MCG honours board – take a bow, Annabel Sutherland. The 23-year-old already had an Ashes hundred (in 2023) and a Test double-hundred (in 2024) to her name: now, she will go down in history as the first woman to score a century at the G.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Sutherland said. “Given the occasion, and being a Victorian, it’s pretty cool – the amount of time I’ve spent at the G as a young kid, watching a lot of Boxing Day Tests, I love the venue.”

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By the close, Australia had extended their lead to 252, with the real possibility Beth Mooney – unbeaten on 98 – will join Antonio, who took six for 49 against England in the MCG Test in 1935, and Sutherland up on that board by Saturday evening. “We’ll be looking to cash in as much as possible in the first session tomorrow, and see how far ahead we can get,” Sutherland said.

This match has already broken the record for the largest attendance at a women’s Test, with an aggregate crowd of 23,561 across the first two days. And after the way England fielded on Friday, it now looks a near-certainty another historical feat will be achieved before the weekend is over – the first 16-0 whitewash of the multi-format era.

England dropped eight catches, including Sophia Dunkley’s back-pedalling attempt from mid-on, leaked piles of runs in the field, twice changed the pink ball (after Heather Knight complained that it was losing its shape), and barely looked like taking a wicket. Before play began, Ellyse Perry had been ruled fit to bat if required, after sustaining a hip injury in the field. But such is Australia’s batting depth she never looked like being needed.

“It’s not been the tour we wanted,” Lauren Filer told the BBC. “We all know we’re better than this, we don’t need reminding. We understand that we haven’t performed the way we wanted to. Hopefully over the next few days we can show what we’re made of.”

It was just after Australia levelled the scores – 20 minutes into the second session – that England’s wheels really came off. Oddly, it was also immediately after Sophie Ecclestone, who had bowled continually across the first session (17 consecutive overs), finally made a breakthrough, removing Alyssa Healy leg before.

But put yourself in Ecclestone’s shoes for a second. You have already bowled continually for the entire afternoon session, you are England’s only frontline spinner, and you know there are two-and-a-half more days of this to come. It is the end of a fruitless tour, and you are exhausted. Then you turn around and see Mooney (averaging 61 this series) walking out to bat. Sutherland is at the other end: your teammates have already dropped her twice, on 29 and 31, and now she has a century in her sights. Wouldn’t you be tempted to wave a white flag?

England did just that – Ecclestone, Filer and Ryana MacDonald-Gay beginning a competitive game of “who can produce the most tired misfield?” MacDonald-Gay put down a catch at cover off Ecclestone’s bowling; Ecclestone returned the favour by letting one slide through her hands at slip; Filer reached down to pick up the ball, let it through her legs, and back-kicked it halfway across the field.

The winner of the competition? A late entrant, Maia Bouchier, who put down an absolute sitter at gully. Mooney has refrained from publicly criticising England during this tour – asked on one occasion to explain how abject England have been, she replied: “Those are your words, not mine” – but here her facial expressions did the talking. She shook her head in disbelief as England handed her a third life. If anything, it got worse after the dinner break: Ecclestone eventually put down a catch at slip that was so straightforward Knight swapped her out of the cordon.

“They were potentially a bit tired at different points today,” Sutherland said of her opponents. “They’ve showed signs of it [poor fielding] throughout the series.”

MacDonald-Gay described it as “a long day. She [Ecclestone] bowled almost 40 overs, so that’s a tough slog. You’re fielding for six hours, it’s hard to keep concentration for every ball. We’ve got to move past that and move on to the next day ahead.”

Among it all, Sutherland calmly made her way to a third Test century, joyously raising her bat to the crowd’s standing ovation, and lapping up another one after MacDonald-Gay finally bowled her through the gate for 163, with job firmly done. It is rare for a side to throw away a Test match in a single session, but give it 24 hours and England will in all likelihood add that to their CV.