6.30pm - England 4 for 0 (Atherton 4*, Trescothick 0*), need 311 more to win
With the score at 4 for 0, England's openers gobbled up the umpires' offer of the light at Headingley this evening. Mike Atherton had just hooked Glenn McGrath to the boundary, but such was the confidence in the England camp that with one nod from Venkat they were off.

England need a further 311 to win tomorrow, when admission will be £10. If they make it, they will have scored more runs than they have yet managed in an innings this series. They will also have made a lot of people eat their hats.

But the propect of excitement tomorrow will come as little succour to the spectators who sat around for the sake of 100 runs, albeit scored at four an over, as rain, clouds, static electricity and boredom spoilt the Headingley party. The break for puddles and bad light – over four hours – ensured that a Test was going to go the five-day distance for the first time in this series.

During the period of play that was possible the story was, well, the same old story. The first over of the day, from Alan Mullally, which contained a number of choice half-volleys, went for 11. Then Ricky Ponting straight-drove Darren Gough's first ball for four straight back down the ground. In the first nine minutes Australia knocked up 21 runs and England's heads drooped.

Only Andy Caddick, as disciplined as his new haircut, was able to offer Nasser Hussain any semblance of control. Caddick even managed to disconcert Ponting with a little extra bounce, but it didn't prevent him moving serenely onwards to another fifty, off only 52 balls. As on Friday, Ponting timed the ball as exactly as a Swiss clockmaker - and combined that with the brutal aggression of a yeti. He and Matthew Hayden, here playing the tactful foil, had just put on 100 off 110 balls when Ponting fell, lbw to a Gough nip-backer.

The players had just been off for the first rain-break of the day, and the England team had the look of a group of slaves who had received a good whipping. A much-improved Mullally then induced a false stroke from Hayden to give Alec Stewart his first catch of the innings, low to his left.

Only half-an hour's play was possible after lunch and, at first, England seemed to have coped better with the Headingley spotted dick than Australia. Damien Martyn and Mark Waugh played and missed a few times, and the run-flow dried up. But then the Rennies set in. Australia took ten runs off an Mullally over before Martyn was given out lbw by Venkat off Caddick. It looked a little high on the TV replays.

Mark Waugh, who had just taken two steps down the pitch and slogged Mullally back over his head, looked like he was having a wonderful time. Simon Katich, without the safety net of a fifty behind him and in his first Test, seemed a little more nervous, but he ended with a safe not-out as the rain drove Adam Gilchrist to a declaration. Tanya Aldred is assistant editor of Wisden.com

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