Wet

Edgbaston. Third Test - day three

Preview

Is there time left for this match to be finished? Will the weather interfere today as forecast? It began raining at about 8am. And. especially if you are England, will Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell, get off to a solid start, or lose their wickets immediately?

Strauss went first thing on the second day at Lord's, Bell is weak in converting good starts into big hundreds and just look what Graham Onions did with the first two balls on day two. Still England are in a powerful position.

Geoff Boycott remains top of the pundit stakes with the remark that "there is not much to choose between these two teams". Australia are finding the going tough without their old stars - now sitting in various commentary boxes - while England have not yet made the transition from "improving" to "capable to heading to the top of the table."

I differ from Boycott because I think England will grow stronger and that even the end of Andrew Flintoff's career will not leave them weaker now that James Anderson has grown into such a potent force.

To lunch

Wet, wet, wet. The only amusement came from Sir Ian Botham driving a super soper; good job he has steady work on the media side of the fence. The rest of the day may go missing in the face of horizon to horizon cloud, gloom and under-the-surface water every ready to rise to grass level.

To tea

Called off at 2.30 and soon afterwards there are pools on the ground the size that will make an Olympic swimmer feel at home. I settle down to watch a replay of the 2005 Test at Old Trafford. Funny, isn't it, I can still feel the emotion of those days. That really was a series and a half.

To close

Forecast for day four is no better. The barbeque summer has been abandoned.