Australia was fighting to keep alive its hopes of winning the Ashes series Sunday, slumping to 88-2 at stumps on the fourth day of the third test to trail England by 25 runs.

Shane Watson was 34 not out and Michael Hussey unbeaten on 18 at Edgbaston after England had totaled 376 and then dismissed Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting in consecutive overs.

Katich was caught behind off Graham Onions for 26, trying to drive a straight delivery through mid-on to leave Australia 47-1 in the 14th over.

Ten balls and five runs later, Ponting was bowled between bat and pad for 5 by a delivery from Graeme Swann that spun back sharply.

Ponting, who became Australia’s leading test run-scorer Friday, could also have been lbw to Swann two balls before his dismissal, but umpire Rudi Koertzen turned down the appeal.

Watson and Hussey saw out the remaining 13 overs with play extended because an hour was lost at the start of the day due to a wet outfield. Saturday’s play was washed out, as was 60 overs on Thursday.

“It’s a big day for us tomorrow,” Flintoff said. “We’ve lost a lot of time to rain, but if we can start well like the other day (when England claimed wickets with the first two balls on Friday) and put some pressure on Australia we can win the test match.

“But they might think if they have a good morning they can do well so, it’s a big morning for both teams. It’s going to be attritional cricket, but there’s a quiet confidence, though we know it’s going to be tough.”

With a day remaining, Australia will struggle to gain enough of a lead and be able to bowl England out again for a series-leveling victory. A draw would mean Australia could still win the series with wins at Headingley and The Oval. A drawn series would be enough for Australia to retain the Ashes.

“We always try to win, but with the amount of rain in the game it’s probably made it hard,” Australia’s Ben Hilfenhaus said. “We will look to bat for as long as we can and if we are enough runs in front, who knows in the last session?”

England resumed on 116-2 and took command after Andrew Flintoff struck an aggressive 74 to help give his side a first-innings lead of 113. He added 89 from 97 balls in a match-turning sixth wicket stand with Matt Prior (41).

“It’s nice batting with Matt Prior as he is an aggressive batsman as well,” Flintoff said. “It was a good partnership in the middle order and put us in a decent position for tomorrow.”

Flintoff hit 10 fours and a six in 79 balls before being dismissed just before tea, following Prior and Ian Bell (53) to the pavilion in the session.

Flintoff, who will retire from test cricket after the series because of injury troubles, was out trying to leave a short delivery from offspinner Nathan Hauritz, the ball turning back and flicking his glove on the way to slip.

It had been an entertaining innings. He asserted his authority with a signature straight drive for four off medium-pacer Watson in his first over and played a second straight drive along the floor for another boundary in Watson’s second over.

Flintoff brought England level with Australia’s 263 with a six over long-on off Hauritz, before a powerful sweep shot two balls later gave England the lead and Flintoff his half-century.

“We had plans to get him out but he batted reasonably well and had an impact with the way he batted,” Hilfenhaus said of Flintoff. “We had hoped to bowl them out quickly and push on with the bat earlier, but we will now have to turn to ‘Plan B.”‘

Prior’s 59-ball innings ended when he mistimed a short ball from Peter Siddle and scooped it to mid-on. But Stuart Broad didn’t allow the momentum to subside, hitting nine boundaries to score 55 in 64 balls. He also exchanging heated words with bowler Mitchell Johnson during an over that cost 15 runs.

England’s last five wickets added 208 runs, whereas Australia’s could only score 70 on Friday.

Australia started the better on Sunday, dismissing Andrew Strauss for 69 when he edged Hilfenhaus to wicketkeeper Graham Manou after trying to cut a ball that was too close to him.

Hilfenhaus, who finished with 4-108, then had Paul Collingwood caught by Ponting at second slip on the stroke of lunch.

Although Bell was lbw to Johnson five overs after the interval, Flintoff, Prior and Broad gave England the advantage with some enterprising stroke-play.

Andrew Flintoff’s 74 took England into a first innings lead against Australia in the rain-affected third Ashes Test at Edgbaston as the hosts looked to cement their 1-0 series lead.

England, at tea on Sunday’s fourth day, were 316 for seven in reply to Australia’s 263, a lead of 53.

All-rounder Flintoff, the bowling hero of England’s 115-run second Test win at Lord’s and the star of the 2005 Ashes, fell shortly before tea in what he has said will be his final series in the five-day format.

Trying to withdraw the bat against off-spinner Nathan Hauritz and play no shot, he gloved to first slip Michael Clarke having shared rapid stands of 89 and 52 with Matthew Prior and Stuart Broad respectively.

Broad was 20 not out and Graeme Swann four not out at the interval.

With only a session and a day left in a match where the whole of Saturday’s play was washed out, Ashes holders Australia’s chances of levelling the five-match series ahead of next week’s fourth Test at Headingley were fading.

They did though put England on the backfoot earlier Sunday and the hosts were 168 for five, still 93 behind, when Flintoff joined Prior.

But by the time the sixth-wicket duo were separated they’d added 89 in 97 balls to take England to within sight of a first innings lead.

Flintoff, who made two fifties in the corresponding Ashes Test here four years ago, then pressed on and continued to play commendably straight.

England were 159 for four at lunch with Ian Bell, recalled in place of the injured Kevin Pietersen, 46 not out in front of his Warwickshire home crowd.

Bell completed a 96-ball fifty when he clipped improving left-arm quick Mitchell Johnson off his pads.

But having survived several close calls, Bell’s luck ran out on 53 when Johnson swung a ball back into his pads to have him lbw with veteran umpire Rudi Koertzen at last ruling in the bowler’s favour.

Johnson, who had struggled for line and length during the first two Tests, had taken one wicket for 12 runs in five overs.

Prior, who made a brisk fifty at Lord’s, revived the innings.

Flintoff followed up by cover-driving Ben Hilfenhaus, who before lunch had dismissed England captain Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood, to the boundary.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting, with England 201 for five, brought all-rounder Shane Watson into the attack for the first time this match after an impressive spell of two for 38 in 14 overs from Hilfenhaus.

Watson, recalled after opener Phillip Hughes was dropped, had top-scored with 62 in Australia’s first innings.

However, the medium-pacer was driven for three fours in seven balls by rival all-rounder Flintoff.

Prior succumbed to fast bowler Peter Siddle when, on 41, he miscued a pull to substitute fielder Hughes at mid-on, with England six runs shy of Australia’s total. The wicket-keeper faced 59 balls with six fours.

Flintoff then levelled the scores in style with a straight six off Hauritz before sweeping the bowler for his seventh four to take England into the lead and bring up his own fifty in just 53 balls.

Broad, a left-hand bat, kept the runs coming from both ends with several stylish boundaries as England went from 200 to 300 in just 90 balls.

England resumed on 116 for two.

Strauss, who made a century at Lord’s, had added just five runs to his overnight 64 when, he was caught behind off Hilfenhaus by Test debutant wicket-keeper Graham Manou.

And, on the stroke of lunch, Hilfenhaus had Collingwood well caught at second slip by Ponting.

Australia’s collapse in the third Ashes Test has raised the chilling prospect that Ricky Ponting could become just the second Australian captain to lose two Ashes series in England, press said on Saturday.

Australia’s batsmen succumbed to the England swing duo of James Anderson and Graham Onions on Friday, losing seven wickets in the pre-lunch session to leave them precariously placed after the second day of the Edgbaston Test.

In reply England were 116 for two at close of play, a deficit of 147 runs after Australia had been bowled out for 263 from an overnight 126 for one.

Ponting showed no joy when he passed Allan Border to become his nation’s highest run scorer, The Australian said.

“It is an extraordinary feat. Allan Border was 38 and had played 156 Tests when he retired with a then world record 11,174 and an average of 50. Ponting, 34, has passed it in 134 Tests with an average of 56,” it said.

Ponting’s leadership was never needed as much as it is now, the newspaper said, with Australia “spooked” again by the swinging ball.

“Ricky Ponting stands proudly amongst the very finest players the game has produced but there is one telling record he is desperate to avoid,” The Australian’s Malcolm Conn said.

“Unless his team can show more than it has managed in the past one-and-a-half Tests, Ponting is in danger of becoming just the second captain of Australia to be in charge of two Ashes series defeats in England.

“The only other is Australia’s first touring captain, Billy Murdoch, well over a century ago.”

The Daily Telegraph’s Ben Dorries said Australia’s bid to claw their way back into Ashes contention from 1-0 down was in trouble as the 2005 (series) reverse swing Ashes nightmare returned.

“In scenes reminiscent of how Simon Jones got the old ball to swing around corners in 2005, Onions and Anderson wobbled the ball everywhere and both took their best figures against Australia,” he said.

Former Test spinner Greg Matthews said Australia’s batting display had been disappointing.

“They lost 7/77 in the first session. The last two pairs put on 60 runs when the ball was still swinging, so what’s going on there?” Matthews said on SBS TV.

Ponting tended to be denied the recognition he deserved for his batting achievements, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Peter Roebuck said.

“The problem is simple. Whatever he does, he will remain the second-best number three Australia has produced,” the columnist wrote.

“Of course, it is absurd to put him or anyone else alongside Don Bradman, but that has been his fate. As a result, he tends to be denied some of the acclaim he deserves.”

Veteran ABC radio commentator Jim Maxwell said while Anderson and Onions swung the ball deceptively, in contrast Australia struggled to swing the ageing ball in England’s first innings.

England paceman James Anderson gave himself a belated birthday present by taking his Test-best figures against Australia here at Edgbaston on Friday.

Anderson, a classic swing bowler when conditions offer some assistance, took five wickets for 80 runs in 24 overs as Australia were bowled out for 263 on the second day of the third Ashes Test after resuming on 126 for one.

Fellow swing bowler Graham Onions got England off to a dramatic start by taking two wickets with the day’s first two balls, having Shane Watson lbw for his overnight 62 and removing Michael Hussey, playing no stroke, for a duck.

Anderson, a day after he turned 27, made sure pressure was applied from both ends by also taking two wickets in two balls to dismiss Marcus North and Mitchell Johnson.

In all on Friday, he took five for 35 runs in 14 overs, figures in marked contrast to the Lancashire quick’s miserable return on Thursday of none for 45 in 10 overs.

“We had a good long chat this morning when we got to the ground,” said Anderson.

“It swung yesterday (Thursday), we didn’t bowl enough balls in the right areas and ask the right questions.”

Anderson and Onions shared nine wickets between them Friday and that meant England captain Andrew Strauss did not have to over-bowl injury-prone spearhead quick Andrew Flintoff, who led the attack in a 115-run victory at Lord’s that put the hosts 1-0 up in the five-match series.”

“We bowled fantastically well all morning. We know it’s going to be a team effort throughout whole series,” Anderson said.

“More than one person chipped in at Lord’s but Fred (Flintoff) took the plaudits on the last day.”

As a succession of batsmen, including captain Ricky Ponting who in the course of his 38 broke Allan Border’s record of 11,174 for most Test runs by an Australian, came and went, questions were again raised about the supposed weakness of the world’s number one ranked side against the swinging ball.

However, Anderson said: “If the ball is swinging and you bowl well, most teams in world are going to have to play well to cope with it.”

England ended Friday on 116 for two, a deficit of 147, with Strauss – who made a century at Lord’s – again looking in fine form while making 64 not out.

“We are in a very good position,” said Anderson, now in his 40th Test.

“We’ve got to look to bat well and bat once. We’ve got a great chance to win this match.”

Anderson’s Test career has suffered from his not always being an automatic selection, with many questioning whether the seamer has the right character to impose himself on opposition batsmen.

His career bowling average against Australia is expensive, at over 46 runs per wicket.

But having bagged his first five-wicket haul against England’s oldest foes, Anderson was in confident mood.

“Australia are the number one in the world so to perform against them is a good way to see where you are at.

“Ottis Gibson (the England bowling coach) has done a fantastic job looking at footage of their guys and plans are working for us.

“I know I’ve been bowling well, a good ball will get a good batsman out in any form of cricket.”

Ponting said: “Those guys are good bowlers when it starts to swing, that’s why they are playing for England. They’re masters of their conditions.

“Both bowled exceptionally well and it was no fluke that one got five and one got four. The ball swung and our batsmen found it very difficult.”

England captain Andrew Strauss believes Ian Bell can do what he did by returning to Test cricket a better player after being dropped from the side.

Bell will replace the injured Kevin Pietersen for the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston after being dropped following England’s embarrassing loss to the West Indies in Jamaica in February.

Warwickshire batsman Bell, set to return to Test cricket on his Edgbaston home ground on Thursday, is determined to improve on a modest Test average of 25 against Australia and ease the pain of being dropped.

Strauss knows the hurt of being left out of the England team but since being recalled in New Zealand last year he has scored eight hundreds in 21 Tests at an average of 53.

“When you are left out, you realise that life goes on and if you get another opportunity it’s a massive positive and something that you can’t really lose on,” Strauss said on Wednesday.

“That as a mindset is a pretty good place to be.

“Ian’s done a lot of work. We sent him away and it was a pretty bitter pill to swallow.

“He’s done a lot of fitness work, scored a lot of runs for Warwickshire, he’s done everything we’ve asked of him and he’s had to dig pretty deep to do that. So I think he’s going to be a better batsman for that experience.

“It’s not much fun when you are out of it but it makes you very, very hungry when you come back in.”

England are 1-0 up in the series with three to play after their 115-run second Test win at Lord’s.

Pietersen may be one of the most attacking batsmen in world cricket but Strauss urged his top order to play smart cricket.

“When Ian’s playing well he scores pretty quickly, just in a different style to KP I suppose,” Strauss said.

“A lot has been talked about taking the game to the Aussies, and that’s important, but what is even more important is playing the situations well.

“Even in that Lord’s Test, there were times when bowlers bowled a number of maidens in a row and you’ve got to suck that up.”

While England know they will be without Pietersen for the rest of the series, they remain optimistic all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, whose fast bowling on the fifth morning at Lord’s did much to seal victory, will remain fit following ice treatment on his right knee.

Flintoff bowled in practice on Tuesday and Strauss said: “He bowled two good spells, one in the middle, one in the nets, and he seemed to come through those okay,” Strauss said.

“It’s always the case that you’ve got to see how he responds to bowling more than actually what happens when he’s bowling.

“He’s recovered pretty well from Lord’s, so we are still optimistic he’s going to be fine.”

England have won two of their last three Ashes Tests at Edgbaston, although four years ago they were given a huge scare before achieving a two-run victory which helped them bounce back to a 2-1 series success in 2005.

Edgbaston has a reputation as one of England’s more raucous Test match crowds and Strauss said: “When the crowd get behind you, it’s a pretty motivating force and probably not much fun for the Aussies if they are getting sledged from the sidelines.

“If we can use that to our advantage, that’s going to be great.

“Edgbaston is one of the grounds that is probably most atmospheric. Here and Headingley (where the fourth Test takes place) is where the guys like to voice their opinions. When we are playing well it’s a fantastic place to play.”

Victory at Edgbaston would mean England could not lose the series and Strauss is well aware going 2-0 up would put his side in a dream position.

However, he insisted: “One thing we are very conscious of is not resting on our laurels now we are 1-0 up.

“We’ve got a fantastic opportunity this week to build on that. Complacency is the furthest thing from our minds at the moment. We are expecting a much harder Test match this week and I think we’re ready for it.”

Australia are likely to keep faith with struggling fast bowler Mitchell Johnson for the third Ashes Test against England, starting at Edgbaston on Thursday.

But Australia captain Ricky Ponting said he was planning to give the left-arm quick a different role to the one he’d played in the first two Tests.

Johnson arrived in England with the reputation of being the best pace bowler currently in world cricket.

But in the first two Tests of this series, Johnson has taken eight wickets for 331 runs at an expensive average of 41 apiece and conceded runs at a rate of four an over.

Johnson’s struggles continued during last week’s tour game against Northamptonshire, where he had figures of one for 107 from 18.1 overs.

He started to lose form during a poor spell with the new ball on the final afternoon of the first Test in Cardiff, where England clung on for a draw, and continued during the home side’s 115-run win in the second Test – Australia’s first Ashes defeat at Lord’s in 75 years.

Former captain Allan Border has been among those calling for Johnson to be dropped but Ponting said he wanted to use the 27-year-old as more of a strike, rather than stock, bowler.

“There has been a lot of talk about his technique and his action being all over the place,” Ponting told reporters on Wednesday.

“We have had some good close looks at that and it is actually not. I think right at the moment it is more of a confidence thing and we will probably look at him in this game playing in a slightly different way than I have in the last couple of games and use him more as a strike impact type of bowler.

“As we have seen anyway he has had the ability to strike for us and take wickets for us. That part of his game is still there.”

Asked if he ever considered dropping Johnson, Ponting replied: “No to tell you the truth”.

Pressed on whether his comments meant Johnson was now definitely in the third Test team, Ponting tried to back-track by saying Australia had still to finalise their XI. But the inference of his earlier remarks seemed clear.

However, with the accurate Stuart Clark waiting in the wings, the selectors may yet decide to make a change to their seam attack.

Former Australia captain Kim Hughes has blamed a public falling out between Johnson and the bowler’s mother, Vikki Harber, for the player’s loss of form.

Harber has accused Johnson’s fiancee, Jessica Bratich, of stealing her from him and said her son’s partner was more interested in money and fame than Johnson’s career.

Ponting admitted that there have been off-field issues for Johnson that have “probably not been making life any easier for him or us”.

But Johnson told Australia’s Woman’s Day magazine Harber was not to blame for his struggles out in the middle.

“It probably might seem, at this time, like things have been distracting me. I was a bit disappointed with what has been going on, but I don’t let things like that distract me,” Johnson said.

“Otherwise, you are thinking about what’s going on when you are in the field and you can’t focus.”

Meanwhile England captain Andrew Strauss insisted Johnson remained a dangerous opponent.

“He’s been a fantastic performer for a number of Tests, the last couple he’s had a bit of a lean trot,” Strauss told reporters.

“He obviously bowls wicket-taking deliveries.

“You can kind of see why he’s taken so many wickets in a short space of time. I think the more overs he bowls, the better he is going to get, it’s just a question for the Aussies as to whether they are going to play him or not.”

It is 12 years since Australia were 1-0 down in an Ashes series but Ponting said he took heart from the way they fought back in the Lord’s Test.

“That said a lot about the players and a lot about the Australian spirit. When we have a point to prove, it’s generally when our best stuff comes out.

“We have to be spot on because we have to win this one or the next one (the fourth Test at Headingley) if we want to win the Ashes.”

Comeback man Ian Bell is so determined to fill in the void created by Kevin Pietersen’s absence in the third Ashes Test that the dour England batsman refuses to let Shane Warne’s jibes become a distraction for him.

“Warney keeps doing that sort of stuff, but that’s him, it doesn’t come as a surprise.” Bell said.

Ahead of the Edgbaston Test starting Thursday, Warne took a dig at Bell, dubbing the Warwickshire batsman’s comeback as “return of the Shermanator”.

It was in 2006 when Warne had nicknamed Bell after the geeky Chuck Sharman in the film ‘American Pie’.

Warne, who claimed Bell’s wicket on five occasions in 10 Tests, said the batsman was a poor replacement of Pietersen and Peter Siddle would work him over just like Glenn McGrath had done in the past.

Bell, however, refused to be dragged into any mud-slinging episode and said he was not taking it seriously.

“I don’t take that on to the field with me. It doesn’t bother me at all. I can’t control what other people say and think. For me it’s a matter of me going out and playing my own cricket and making sure that I contribute to our team winning the Ashes,” Bell was quoted as saying by ‘The Daily Telegraph’.

“That’s what I want to do, I want to be part of winning the Ashes again with England. I have got the opportunity to play in a team that’s playing good cricket at the minute and to play for your country is the biggest honour you can have.

“To be left out for the last few months has hurt and hopefully I can contribute to a winning way with England,” he added.

England’s one drop batsman Ravi Bopara says that Kevin Pietersen’s injury will not put him under extra pressure against Australia when the third Test gets underway from Thursday.

Bopara keeps the No 3 slot despite a top score of just 35 in the series so far.

“I’ve not felt bad once at the crease during this series. It is not like I’ve scratched around. I’ve felt like I’ve got off to good starts and then something has happened. But that’s cricket. It’s only two Tests and it wasn’t long ago that I got three hundreds in a row,” The Sun quoted Bopara, as saying.

“I don’t feel any extra pressure to perform because KP is out. If anything, you want to take as much pressure off yourself and go out and perform to the best of your ability,” he added.

Edgbaston curator Steve Rouse says the pitch for the third Ashes Test would be a paradise for the pace bowlers and Australia would not need services of spinner Nathan Hauritz.

“With the conditions like this, Nathan Hauritz could be a waste. Australia should play four seamers I would think. You wouldn’t see a spinner doing an awful lot of work here unless he was good enough to tie an end down and not get carted for five or six an over.

“It doesn’t spin much here at all this year. Our spinners are going at 60 or 70 a wicket,” Rouse was quoted as saying by the ‘Australian’.

But Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has already said that he won’t be fooled by Rouse’s pitch report after being misled by a similar report in the 2005 Ashes series.

However, Rouse claimed that he is not playing any mind games and said it would still be a major gamble for Ponting to bowl first like he did in 2005.

“You have to be a brave person to bowl first, it can always backfire on you can’t it?” Rouse said.

“The forecast isn’t great, we have got showers right the way through the week and for at least the first three days of the Test. With the rain and the bad weather we’ve had, and we haven’t had any warm sunshine.

“There is a lot of moisture underneath. It will be a typical old-fashioned English seaming wicket. But good batters can adjust to the conditions and you don’t get to play for Australia or England if you can’t bat,” he added.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting feels England’s star batsman Kevin Pietersen’s absence will add more pressure on the Lord’s Test hero Andrew Flintoff.

Ponting believes his team had Pietersen’s measure during the first two Tests of the ongoing Ashes series but wonders how England will cope without their batting star now he has been ruled out of the series following Achilles tendon surgery.

“If you look at the way we’ve bowled to him and the way he’s played, he’s been one of the England batsmen we’ve been able to put the most pressure on,” Ponting was quoted as saying in Daily Telegraph. “Ben Hilfenhaus, in particular, has bowled beautifully to him.”

“But he is a massive loss. He’s such an X-factor in their side, the way he can score quickly and the ability he has to put the bowlers on the backfoot by putting extra pressure on them.

“I think Pietersen does leave a pretty big hole in their batting. For us, it will be a real positive. It probably puts a bit more pressure back on Flintoff to perform. He has to stand up big time now,” he said.

Ponting also wonders how the inconsistent Ian Bell will feel trying to fill Pietersen’s enormous shoes.

“Now England have a much more sound, technically correct, but scratchy player like Bell, if we happen to get him in at the right time he’s a pretty nervous sort of bloke as well,” Ponting said.