Australia 263 & 375-5 drew with England 376
Scorecard
AUSTRALIA secured the draw with ease by batting out the whole of the final day of the third Test at Edgbaston.
Michael Clarke (103 not out) and Marcus North (96) shared a huge partnership of 185 runs to keep the series at 1-0 to England.
The hosts had done well to arrive on the final day with genuine hopes of forcing a victory out of a match which lost six sessions to rain.
The Aussies resumed on 88-2, still 25 behind, and they lost another two wickets in the morning session to keep England's chance of victory alive.
Shane Watson reached his half century an hour into the day's play. But he departed just three runs later in the next over when he nicked an edge behind to Matt Prior off a full delivery from James Anderson.
And when Mike Hussey, who also made a cool half-century after his duck in the first innings, was caught by Prior off the bowling of Stuart Broad, there were still 20 minutes until lunch.
Australia were, in effect, at 50-4 and on shaky ground as England sensed the chance to go two up with two to play.
When North joined Clarke at the crease, however, neither batsmen panicked and they were soon each hitting some shots to compile a big score.
England's bowlers struggled for the swing which put the Australians in trouble in the first innings though it could have been so different if captain Andrew Strauss had held onto a catch from Clarke just after lunch.
As it was, that dropped catch was just about the last opportunity on a disappointing final day as the Aussie batsmen expertly relieved the pressure and reached 293-4 at tea, a lead of 180 runs.
After tea, there was one final late wicket when North fell four runs short of his ton, attempting to drive a slower ball from Broad, only to be caught magnificently by Anderson.
Play continued for less than an hour after that as Graham Manou (13 not out) assisted man of the match Clarke who reached his century before the captains agreed on a draw at 1750BST with 13.4 overs remaining.
So ultimately the weather was the key factor of this Test. Play did not start until after tea on the first day and the second day was cut short before a complete washout on the third.
By then, England had manoeuvred themselves into a good position after seven wickets fell on the morning session of day two with Australia all out for 263.
On Sunday, a good day of positive batting from England, especially by the ailing and wicketless Andrew Flintoff and Prior, gave them a lead of 113 runs and set up an unlikely push for victory.
But, if anything, the momentum then shifted in favour of the Aussie batsmen after several - Watson, Hussey, Clarke and North - used the time to play themselves into form.
Indeed, the Aussies ended up with a handsome enough lead of 262 with five wickets still remaining at close.
And they could easily argue that, had there been more time in the match, they would have put pressure on England's chase in the second innings.
Strauss should not feel too downhearted, though. England controlled most of this game and at least put themselves in a position where they could not lose it with a day left.
Looking forward, England know that a win at Headlingley will give them an unassailable 2-0 lead and a return of the Ashes urn.
The majority of the pressure remains with the Aussies.
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EARLIER CLOSE OF PLAY REPORTS
Day Four (close)
Australia 263 [Watson 62; Anderson 5-80] & 88-2 v
England 376 [Strauss 69, Bell 53, Flintoff 74, Broad 55]
ANDREW Flintoff has given England the chance to pull off victory with a fine batting display on the fourth day of the third Test at Edgbaston.
Flintoff scored 74 as England established an innings lead of 113 runs before the wickets of Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting fell to leave the Aussies still 25 behind on 88-2 at close.
After play was abandoned on day three without a ball being bowled, on top of a rain-affected opening two days, this match looked like it would simply amble to a tame draw.
But some positive batting by Flintoff, aided by Matt Prior, has put England in with an outside chance of an unlikely win and, importantly, batted Australia out of the game.
England resumed on 116-2 but the tourists enjoyed the best of the curtailed morning session which began at midday and lasted only an hour.
Skipper Andrew Strauss added only five runs to his overnight 64 before he snicked a ball by Ben Hilfenhaus behind into the hands of Graham Manou.
Then, two balls before lunch, Paul Collingwood irresponsibly edged straight to Ponting at second slip as Hilfenhaus struck again.
The momentum looked as if it was going to stay with Australia after the break.
Ian Bell, who had previously survived two strong lbw shouts for his 53, was not reprieved for a third time as Mitchell Johnson took his first wicket of the innings.
But Bell's departure brought Flintoff to the crease alongside Prior and the pair proceeded to take the game away from the Aussies completely with a free-scoring partnership of 89.
Prior was eventually out caught by sub fielder Philip Hughes after a sloppy shot off the bottom of his bat to an average-looking ball by Peter Siddle on 41.
And, although England also lost Flintoff by tea, most of the damage had been done by then with the hosts enjoying a lead of 53.
Flintoff departed in a most anti-climatic manner which was completely out of keeping with the rest of an innings which featured 10 fours and a six.
Nathan Hauritz spun a ball which spat and turned slowly off the pitch to Flintoff who could only glove it to Michael Clarke at first slip.
After tea, Stuart Broad batted well with the tail as England took their lead beyond 100.
Graeme Swann provided some assistance for Broad before he was out for 24, caught by Marcus North off Johnson's bowling.
James Anderson could not repeat his past heroics but still managed to score a single run before being caught by Manou off Hilfenhaus.
Thus, Anderson preserved his remarkable record of never having been out for a duck in Test cricket in 52 innings.
Finally, Graham Onions helped Broad achieve his half-century before the Notts all-rounder hit a return catch to Siddle on 55 to end the innings.
The Aussie openers took the crease under pressure with a deficit of 113 runs but Shane Watson and Katich started intelligently to reach 47-0.
Katich then suffered a moment of madness and snicked a full delivery from Onions behind to Prior.
When skipper Ponting was magnificently bowled moments later by the spin of Swann for just five runs, Edgbaston erupted and an Aussie collapse was in the air.
Better still, the out-of-form Mike Hussey was next to the crease, on a king pair.
On his first ball, delivered by Onions, he got a nervous inside-edge which looped up off his pad and only just evaded the Durham seamer's hands.
But after that Hussey settled and, along with Watson, guided Australia to 88-2 at stumps.
Their unbeaten 36 partnership has once again made the draw the firm favourite but Ponting will be well aware that his men are not out of the woods.
He knows that another inspired bowling performance, akin to the morning of the second day when seven wickets fell, could yet give England a 2-0 series lead.
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Day Three (close)
Australia 263 [Watson 62; Anderson 5-80] v England 116-2 [Strauss 64*]. No play at all possible on day three.
PERSISTENT rain at Edgbaston meant no play at all was possible on the third day of the third Test which now looks destined for a draw.
England had hoped to capitalise on their excellent day yesterday when they reached 116-2 at close of play after a brilliant morning session of seven wickets helped restrict Australia to 263 all out.
James Anderson took 5-80 and Graham Onions 4-58 as the seamers looked to have swung the match in England's favour.
Despite the early loss of Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara, skipper Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell had guided the hosts to a healthy position when bad light stopped play.
But the chances today of England establishing an innings lead, or alternatively, of an Aussie comeback, were thwarted by wretched weather.
Once again, huge puddles covered the outfield and, after several inspections, the umpires abandoned the day's play at 1430BST.
Expectations that this match can be anything other than a draw have been severely dampened.
Although brighter weather is forecast for the final two days, it would require an extraordinary effort by either of the sides.
England would need to score quickly enough to build up an innings lead before bowling out Australia cheaply for a second time and knocking off any runs required.
The Aussies are in an even tougher position and are in desperate need for a session akin to England's morning yesterday.
Ricky Ponting's men need to take the eight remaining first innings wickets as quickly as possible before batting positively for the rest of day four and some of day five.
The tourists would then need to dismiss England again in little more than two sessions to come back and level the series at 1-1.
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Day Two (close)
Australia 263 [Watson 62; Anderson 5-80] v England 116-2 [Strauss 64*]
SEAMERS James Anderson and Graham Onions put England into a healthy position as Australia capitulated on day two of the third Test at Edgbaston.
Anderson picked up his seventh five-for in Tests and his first against Australia to finish with figures of 5-80.
He was ably assisted by Durham bowler Graham Onions who took 4-58 in an amazing morning session in which England took seven wickets.
With the ball swinging, the impact was immediate and Onions made the vital early inroads to claim two wickets in the opening two balls of the day.
First Shane Watson, who was brought in for the out-of-sorts youngster Philip Hughes, was out lbw for a handy knock of 62.
Then, Mike Hussey suffered the first golden duck of this Ashes series after offering no shot to a straight ball that hit off-stump.
Michael Clarke survived the hat-trick ball and, along with Ricky Ponting, set about attempting to rebuild the Aussie innings.
But their stand of 37 for the fourth wicket came to an end when Ponting nicked a thin edge behind to Matt Prior on 38.
Once Clarke had also departed on 29 to a plumb lbw off Anderson's bowling, the blip became a collapse more often associated in the past with England.
Marcus North offered little before Prior made an outstanding full-stretch catch as Anderson's swing caused all sorts of panic from the Aussie batsmen.
He then became the second England bowler of the day to put himself on a hat-trick when he trapped Mitchell Johnson for a second golden duck of the innings.
Like Onions, the Lancastrian was unable to oblige with the hat-trick ball but struck again in his next over, the last before lunch.
Anderson splattered the stumps of Graham Manou, a late wicket-keeper change after Brad Haddin broke a finger in the warm-up, to leave the Aussies reeling on 203-8 at lunch.
Matters got little better for the tourists after the break.
Matt Prior took his third catch of the innings as Peter Siddle nicked an outside edge to another brilliant ball which viciously swung in from Anderson.
A stand of 34 for the last wicket by Nathan Hauritz and Ben Hilfenhaus offered some resistance.
But it was all brought to an end when Graeme Swann, who took the only wicket on day one, took an easy catch at gully after Hilfenhaus edged a full delivery from Onions.
Australia had resumed on a comfortable 126-1 after only 30 overs were bowled on the opening day due to torrential rain before the match which had covered the outfield in water.
But, within a session and a half, Anderson and Onions looked to have changed the course of the match completely.
Predictably, England suffered an early set-back in their reply when Alastair Cook was out for nought, caught behind by Manou after playing a loose shot to Siddle.
The hosts reached tea with no further loss on 56-1 and skipper Andrew Strauss looked particularly composed as he compiled 64 not out by close.
But the Aussies struck early in the final session when Ravi Bopara played an inside edge onto his stumps off Hilfenhaus for another disappointing score of 23.
That wicket brought Ian Bell to the crease. The Warwickshire batsman was always likeliest to replace the injured Kevin Pietersen and survived a big lbw shout to reach 26 not out when bad light stopped play.
A further 19 overs were lost in the final session of day two and the start of play was delayed again on the third day as more rain fell over Birmingham.
And so, despite the efforts of Anderson and Onions, the poor weather makes a draw the firm favourite.
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