England’s pursuit of victory in the Fourth Ashes Test was this morning on hold yet again, with Ben Stokes’s side praying for respite from the rain on the final day at Old Trafford.
England must win the contest to set up a series decider at the Oval next week and are well on top in the game, with Australia five wickets down and still 61 runs from making the home side bat again.
However, two sessions of play were wiped out by rain on Saturday, with Marnus Labuschagne’s century in the interim frustrating England.
Labuschagne eventually fell to Joe Root’s spin for 111 but England’s chances of cleaning up the final five touring wickets are in the hands of the weather gods, with further rain on Sunday morning forcing a delayed start to play.
Even should the rain subside, ground staff still face a major clean-up to get a sodden outfield playable after heavy downpours overnight. On Saturday, it took almost two hours without rain before play was able to resume.
