Australia 527-7dec & 172-7dec drew with England 368 & 37-3 Scorecard
Man of the match: Michael Clarke (187)
ENGLAND secured the Ashes for a third successive series after the third Test at Old Trafford petered out to a rain-affected draw.
Leading 2-0 from the first two matches, the hosts required only a draw from any of the last three games to keep the urn in English hands.
And, while England were reduced to 27-3 at one stage on the final day, persistent rain after lunch prevented any further play.
Eventually, at 4.40pm, the match was abandoned and declared a draw. Australia's fine efforts in the third Test had ultimately been for nought. England had retained the Ashes.
Of course, Australia had come into the contest on the back of heavy criticism following their massive defeat at Lord's - but they have, in fairness, done much to defy their critics by dominating this Test throughout.
It helped that skipper Michael Clarke won the toss for the first time in the series and, on a good pitch, he compiled his personal best Ashes score of 187.
Plenty of others in the Aussie top order contributed too. Opener Chris Rogers hit a chanceless 84, Steve Smith made 89, while a positive flurry by Mitchell Starc (66 not out) and Brad Haddin (65 not out) took Australia to 527-7 declared.
For once, the England were on the back foot and the seam attack had looked toothless as local lad James Anderson remained wicketless with figures of 0-116 in the first innings.
Meanwhile, Stuart Broad (1-108) and Tim Bresnan (1-114) could only tale one scalp apiece. At least, Broad could take personal enjoyment from his wicket after bowling Clarke for his 200th Test success, the second youngest Englishman to reach that mark after Sir Ian Botham.
However, it was Graeme Swann (5-159) who impressed most with the ball, taking his 17th five-for in just 55 Tests, including the prize wicket of David Warner.
Warner, of course, had quite literally hit the headlines before the series by getting involved in altercation with young England opener Joe Root in a Birmingham pub during the ICC Champions Trophy.
The Aussie was subsequently suspended and only regained his place in the Test side after scoring 193 for Australia A against South Africa A in Pretoria.
To the delight of the Old Trafford crowd, Jonathan Trott caught Warner out cheaply at first slip after a deflection off wicket-keeper Matt Prior's gloves.
Warner was not convinced, and he reviewed the decision on the basis that he considered the inside edge of his bat hitting his pad to be the only impact.
He was wrong and thus, if anything, increased his pantomime villain persona - but this was a truly rare instance so far of the review system being used correctly.
Yes indeed, the decision review system has endured another difficult Test match, with Usman Khawaja particularly unlucky to miss out on the Aussie run fest.
Khawaja was out for a solitary run, adjudged to have been caught behind off Swann - and, while there was a noise, it was clear from the replays that it was bat on pad.
There was also being nothing on HotSpot - and yet still third umpire Kumar Dharmasena refused to overturn the incorrect on-field ruling - leading to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to state on Twitter that it was "one of the worst umpiring decisions" he had ever seen.
From then on, the luck seemed to run against England with Smith lucky to escape on at least two separate occasions, both of which ended up as failed reviews for the hosts.
And it would eventually get to the present scenario where, clearly, neither side seems to have much confidence in the system.
For instance, when nightwatchman Tim Bresnan was given out, caught behind early in the England reply, the ball had actually come off his thigh pad rather than his bat.
Nevertheless, the Yorkshireman declined to ask for a review, presumably concerned that it would be a wasted effort and the on-field decision would not be overturned.
Resuming day three on 52-2, things got worse for England before they got better, with Jonathan Trott (5) out cheaply and captain Alastair Cook caught behind down the leg-side off Starc before lunch.
Cook had made 62 but England were listing badly on 110-4 before the in-form Ian Bell joined Kevin Pietersen at the crease.
The pair put on 115 for the fifth wicket to bring the follow-on target into sight - but there was a late sting in the tale of day three as Bell (60), Pietersen (113) and Bairstow (22) all fell before stumps.
Requiring 34 more runs at the start of day four to avoid the follow on, England surpassed their target with ease following a flurry of boundaries off Broad's bat.
It was lovely, positive cricket from Broad, alongside Matt Prior, and it only came to a halt when the former surprisingly decided to walk on being caught behind off Nathan Lyon.
In a strange turn of events, Swann also walked off after being caught behind off Peter Siddle, leaving Prior to farm the strike with number 11 Anderson.
Prior did this expertly, even if he did incur the wrath from parts of the Old Trafford crowd for turning down some obvious singles.
But, while it was hardly exhilarating stuff, it was effective - and England had reached a total of 368 when Prior was eventually caught by Warner off the bowling of four-wicket Siddle.
That was still 159 behind - but the onus was now very much back on Australia as they raced against the time and the Manchester weather.
Opting to promote Warner in place of Shane Watson as an opener, the Aussies set about making some quick runs to set up a declaration.
The tourists duly scored at almost five an over and, despite regularly losing wickets, had reached 137-5 for a lead of 296, as the players took a slightly early tea due to a shower.
Skipper Clarke should have perhaps taken that as a warning sign and made a positive declaration there and then but he did not and he may now live to regret that.
After all, there would ultimately only be 39 more deliveries after the interval - though this was sadly partly down to England's cynically slow over rate and also due to some more bizarre decision-making from the umpires.
This time, the controversy arose from a recent change in laws by cricket's governing body, the ICC, regarding bad light. Previously always subject to the batting team's perspective, now it is the umpires who are the sole arbiters of what constitutes bad light.
In Manchester, the on-field pair - Marais Erasmus and Tony Hill - decided that, as England captain Cook had refused to bring on his spinners, it was too dangerous to play. This was despite a lack of rain and the presence of four towering floodlights.
Clarke was furious, well aware that any time spent off the field of play equated to the Ashes slipping away from his team.
And, in fairness, he found an unlikely ally in the home crowd at Old Trafford, which was, after all, hosting its first Test match for over three years following a £32m redevelopment.
The players would never make it back out of the pavilion on day four - and, with fewer than 21 overs managed on the final day, the Aussies' hopes of getting back in the series were literally washed away.
England have retained the Ashes, then, and - impressively - have now taken them on four of the last five occasions.
But this was easily the most underwhelming success, due to the very nature of it.
On the back foot for much of the last five days, it was never going to be particularly gratifying to secure the Ashes with a draw, particularly one which had more to do with the weather than a battling batting performance.
Also, it must be said that England hardly endeared themselves to the neutral with their intentional go-slow tactics in the Australian second innings.
Of course, that does not detract from the fact that Australia would have done exactly the same if the roles had been reversed - but such tactics undoubtedly damage the spirit of the game and it is the paying public who lose out most.
Still, the verdict of The Sun's chief sports writer Steve Howard was unnecessarily harsh. Seemingly forgetting that England put themselves in such a strong position by winning the first two Tests through their own hard work, Howard was particularly scathing that the Ashes had been won with a draw (£).
It will certainly be interesting to see if he holds the same opinion if England resume their recent dominance and win the next two Tests in Chester-le-Street and at the Oval to take the series 4-0.
I will be at the fourth Test on Saturday and, while it is technically a dead rubber in terms of the Ashes, home fans have every right to expect an improved performance.
The urn may be staying at home for a little while longer yet - but, as BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew has noted, England's work is far from done.
THE ASHES 2013
FIXTURES
| 10-14 July | First Test: England 215 & 375 beat Australia 280 & 296 by 14 runs | Trent Bridge |
| 18-21 July | Second Test: England 361 & 349-7d beat Australia 128 & 235 by 347 runs | Lord's |
| 1-5 August | Third Test: Australia 527-7dec & 172-7dec drew with England 368 & 37-3 | Old Trafford |
| 9-13 August | Fourth Test | Riverside |
| 21-25 August | Fifth Test | The Oval |
CENTURIES
187 Michael Clarke (Australia), third Test
180 Joe Root (England), second Test
113 Kevin Pietersen (England), third Test
109 Ian Bell (England), first Test
109 Ian Bell (England), second Test
FIVE-WICKET HAULS (~ 10 wickets in the match)
5-44 Graeme Swann (England), second Test
5-50 Peter Siddle (Australia), first Test
5-72 Ryan Harris (Australia), second Test
~5-73 James Anderson (England), first Test
~5-85 James Anderson (England), first Test
5-159 Graeme Swann (England), third Test
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