Follow UsAfter taking a 2-0 lead in the Ashes Tests, Australia are on the brink of losing the initiative as they are on the back foot in the Old Trafford Test, still trailing England by 162 runs. They let England take a 275-run lead, thanks to a brilliant 189 by opener Zak Crawley and on Day Three, they were blown away by an unbeaten 81-ball 99 by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.
The forecast for the next two days is not too great as the rain threat looms large. The two remaining days could be washed out due to rains, which will ensure Australia retains the Ashes, despite what happens in the final Test at The Oval.
Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, Australia's standout performer with a five-wicket haul, says he will be pleased if a huge chunk of the game is lost to rains. "I'd be very pleased," Hazlewood admitted.
"It's obviously forecast but forecasts can change all the time. Obviously, rain and light plays a big part in cricket and has done forever. So, yeah, it'd be great to lose a few overs here and there, and make our job a little easier if I'm hanging in there."
England will have a very small window, if any, over the next two days to force a result and go into the final game all square. Australia still trail by 162 runs with six wickets in hand.
Australia allowed the lead to stretch to 275, after the last wicket pair of Bairstow and James Anderson put on 66 for the final wicket. On more than one occasion, they let the pair run a bye while the ball went to Alex Carey behind the wickets that brought Bairstow back on strike.
Defending it, Hazlewood said, "Do you just bowl wide and down leg and really stop him from scoring? Or do you try and roll the dice and bounce him and try and get a wicket that way, or keep bowling hard length and hopefully one goes up the chute?" he said.
"But there times we potentially could just bowl away from him the whole time.
"We saw probably a new tactic again today of running on bouncers or running through to the keeper. It's just trying to limit his scoring and [trying] different things to try with two balls left, one ball left, keeping the tailender on strike for next over and things like that, so I thought we did reasonably well."
For the second time in their careers, the fast bowling trio of Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have conceded over five an over. Hazlewood admitted that they could have been better in patches, but for most parts luck did not favour them.
"I imagine a few games against India on some flat wickets we've gone the journey as well. So it's nothing too new for us, I guess [it] was probably just the run rate," Hazlewood said.
"It was a pretty special knock from Zak [Crawley] and…obviously Jonny and Rooty as well. Definitely, we could have been better in patches throughout the innings and with a bit of luck we might have, but that's not the case. So we'll have a look at that and learn from it again."