England looked in a good position to tear through Australia's batting line-up, before rain prevented any play after lunch at Lord's.
England - 258 / 80-4 - Australia
England reduced Australia to 80-4 - trailing by 178 - before lunch, at that was all the play that happened, with rain forcing abandonment of the final two sessions of the day.
After a poor started, England pressured Australia into losing three wickets for 11 runs, after they had allowed the tourists to grow from 11-1 to 60-1 and it looked like the perfect bowling conditions had been wasted.
Jofra Archer took his first Test wicket on debut, closely followed by Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad.
Steve Smith remains though, he will resume tomorrow on 13 not out.
With only two days of the Test left, having lost one and a half already to rain, it is looking less likely that England will be able to level the series.
Australia would have to bat all of tomorrow and bowl England out on the final day, or England bowl Australia out cheaply from here, get a solid lead and declare before bowling Australia out on Sunday.
Play started on time, with the conditions damp, murky and the floodlights on.
With the rain later on in the day forecast, England did well to make the most of the conditions while they could, though the fact remains that a draw is the most probable outcome.
Five balls before lunch was when the players left the field, and while inspections took place at 4:30 PM and 5:20 PM, conditions worsened so much that no more cricket was played.
Looking back, England will be happy with their three wickets, but for a poor start it could have been so much better.
Archer, Broad and Woakes were bowling too short from both ends, allowing Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja to add 30 runs in eight overs.
After that though - with perfect line and length - the next 16.1 overs went for only 20 and the three dismissals.
Archer had Bancroft trapped lbw before Khawaja edged Woakes behind and Broad had Travis Head lbw on review.
Matthew Wade was given lbw off Ben Stokes, but the ball was shown to be pitching outside leg stump.
Wade is yet to score from 23 deliveries, while Smith twitched, fidgeted and left the ball with a different flourish each time.
It may be vital to the match - and the series - that England can dismiss him early on Saturday, but if they don't the urn will be a little bit closer to returning down under.
The Ashes Fixtures and Results
1-5 August
First Test, Edgbaston
Australia won by 251 runs (England 0-1 Australia)
14-18 August
Second Test, Lord's
22-26 August
Third Test, Headingley
4-8 September
Fourth Test, Old Trafford
12-16 September
Fifth Test, The Oval
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 |
| Photo from Express & Star |
England reduced Australia to 80-4 - trailing by 178 - before lunch, at that was all the play that happened, with rain forcing abandonment of the final two sessions of the day.
After a poor started, England pressured Australia into losing three wickets for 11 runs, after they had allowed the tourists to grow from 11-1 to 60-1 and it looked like the perfect bowling conditions had been wasted.
Jofra Archer took his first Test wicket on debut, closely followed by Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad.
Steve Smith remains though, he will resume tomorrow on 13 not out.
With only two days of the Test left, having lost one and a half already to rain, it is looking less likely that England will be able to level the series.
Australia would have to bat all of tomorrow and bowl England out on the final day, or England bowl Australia out cheaply from here, get a solid lead and declare before bowling Australia out on Sunday.
Play started on time, with the conditions damp, murky and the floodlights on.
With the rain later on in the day forecast, England did well to make the most of the conditions while they could, though the fact remains that a draw is the most probable outcome.
Five balls before lunch was when the players left the field, and while inspections took place at 4:30 PM and 5:20 PM, conditions worsened so much that no more cricket was played.
Looking back, England will be happy with their three wickets, but for a poor start it could have been so much better.
Archer, Broad and Woakes were bowling too short from both ends, allowing Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja to add 30 runs in eight overs.
After that though - with perfect line and length - the next 16.1 overs went for only 20 and the three dismissals.
Archer had Bancroft trapped lbw before Khawaja edged Woakes behind and Broad had Travis Head lbw on review.
Matthew Wade was given lbw off Ben Stokes, but the ball was shown to be pitching outside leg stump.
Wade is yet to score from 23 deliveries, while Smith twitched, fidgeted and left the ball with a different flourish each time.
It may be vital to the match - and the series - that England can dismiss him early on Saturday, but if they don't the urn will be a little bit closer to returning down under.
The Ashes Fixtures and Results
1-5 August
First Test, Edgbaston
Australia won by 251 runs (England 0-1 Australia)
14-18 August
Second Test, Lord's
22-26 August
Third Test, Headingley
4-8 September
Fourth Test, Old Trafford
12-16 September
Fifth Test, The Oval
Never miss a post - enter your email address in the box on the right!
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