Michael Clarke facing tricky call at Old Trafford

Michael Clarke faces the trickiest of decisions to time his declaration effectively as Australia seek to keep the Ashes alive at Emirates Old Trafford.

Anywhere between eight hours and none may yet be available to the tourists to try to push for victory, depending on which weather forecast is trusted.

As Australia reached 137 for five at tea on day four in this third Investec Test, for a lead of 296, their captain needed to juggle scoreboard and rain radar data to give his team their best chance of reducing series arrears to 2-1 with two to play.

England had this morning eliminated Australia’s presumed plan A when they raced past the follow-on target before being bowled out for 368.

The hosts, needing only a stalemate here to retain the Ashes, resumed today on 294 for seven. But within 25 minutes, a rush of boundaries from eighth-wicket pair Matt Prior and Stuart Broad took them past the magic 328.

Broad completed the task with the second of three fours in one over from Ryan Harris, which cost 17.

Quick wickets followed the quick runs, however.

Broad pushed forward and edged Nathan Lyon behind, giving the off-spinner his only success - in his 31st over.

New batsman Graeme Swann hit a straight six off Lyon, before getting an inside edge behind to give Peter Siddle (four for 63) his third wicket and Brad Haddin his fifth catch.

Prior had already been dropped, on 18, trying to find a gap off Lyon over mid-wicket - where Steve Smith got fingertips to the ball above his head but could not cling on.

The England wicketkeeper was eventually last out, trying to farm a single to leg off Siddle but succeeding only in looping a simple catch into the off side.

The 10th-wicket stand with James Anderson added only 15 runs but used up eight overs.

Regardless of how much time Australia had left, their batsmen needed to augment the lead with some urgency - and to that end, dispensed with much of the usual Test match caution.

Chris Rogers half-steered an early catch to slip off Broad, before David Warner and Usman Khawaja shared a 51-run stand in the next 13 overs.

Warner, the favourite focus of English supporters’ partisan antipathy after infamous punching Joe Root in a Birmingham bar during the Champions Trophy, survived on 19 when England invoked the decision review system but failed to overturn Tony Hill’s not-out caught-behind verdict as the left-hander aimed a pull at Broad.

Warner, pushed up to open the innings in circumstances playing to his strengths, fulfilled his brief until he failed to control a pull at Tim Bresnan.

He was caught, of course, by a tumbling Root at deep square leg - an irony predictably lost on no one as the crowd jeered Warner off the pitch.

Swann then turned one enough from round the wicket to have Khawaja bowled behind his legs, and Shane Watson haplessly picked out deep third man with an uppercut at Bresnan.

Smith was run out, in the cause, after a mix-up with Clarke - but the captain himself was still in situ to dictate the tempo even as the first splashes of rain brought a slightly early tea.