Edgbaston washout leaves England frustrated

The third day of the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston was a complete washout with play called off before 3pm.

After skittling Australia on Friday and laying the foundations of their own innings the rain did not help England's cause and a draw now seems the most likely outcome.

But the home side are bullish about their chances, and with two days left they believe there is still time to force a result - weather permitting.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:Lawrence Booth, the Observer: "England's Ashes push was held up by the weather as rain wiped out the third day of the third Test in Birmingham, but the team director, Andy Flower, insisted his side still had time to push for a victory that would give them a 2-0 lead over the Australians going into Friday's fourth Test at Headingley. England will resume today on 116 for two in reply to Australia's 263, and although the Edgbaston groundsman, Steve Rouse, believes yesterday's downpours could limit play today to 70 overs, that would still leave a potential 168 overs in the match to get a result."

Patrick Collins, Mail on Sunday: "At 38 minutes past two, on the first day of August, at the height of the English summer, a lugubrious announcer informed an empty cricket ground that play had been abandoned. As he spoke, the rain was bouncing off the covers, while across the outfield large pools were coalescing into a vast, shimmering lake. The sad news was not unexpected. Yet still we damned every drop that fell on Edgbaston, for an absorbing match and a beguiling series had been miserably interrupted just as its plot was deliciously thickening."

Scyld Berry, Sunday Telegraph: "It is destined to be a very English summer, whatever the forecasters said, and this is helping England more than hindering them. Without cloud-cover, Headingley [the venue of the fourth Test] offers batting conditions, the environment in which the tourists are stronger. This does not add up to be the most glorious of England campaigns. But then most of England’s Ashes wins at home through the ages have been hacked out of rain and mud, draws and doggedness, low scores and the narrowest of margins." ·