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Ryan Harris celebrates the wicket of Jonathan Trott on day five at Old Trafford. Source:AP
IMPORTANTLY, regardless of what weather was thrown at them, Australia would finish the third Test at Old Trafford with the whip hand.
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In a series where poor batting had been camouflaged by a 19 year-old tailender at Trent Bridge, and brutally exposed at Lord's, that the Australians had even put themselves in a winning position at Old Trafford was a victory in itself.
Dramatically, places had been traded after the Lord's humiliation.
Set 332 to win on the last day, England had been reduced to a 3-35 at lunch, with Joe Root 13 and and Ian Bell 2.
That was thanks largely to another wonderful spell by the stout-hearted paceman Ryan Harris.
Harris first trapped Jonathan Cook plumb LBW for a duck, something that surprised the England captain so greatly he wasted a referral with a futile appeal.
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Harris then overcame the disappointment of his own failed review of an LBW should against Jonathan Trott - replays showed the ball hitting leg stump, but Harris was denied on the "umpire's call" - to have Trott caught down the leg-side in his next over.
Then, vitally, the Australians removed first innings centurion Kevin Pietersen, caught down the leg-side by wicketkeeper Brad Haddin from Peter Siddle. Although not before yet another review, and some remonstration from Pietersen who felt, like Hot Spot, that he had not hit it.
That dismissal came as some relief to Michael Clarke, who had dropped a routine catch at second slip from Root in Siddle's previous over. An anxious moment for the Australians with the grey clouds hovering, and the need to press their advantage urgent.
But, in the context of the series, Australia had gone from hunted to hunter. A remarkable transformation given their (now broken) six Test losing streak.
Given the dire weather forecast, that Australia was in any position to even put England under the pump seemed a minor miracle.
But, unexpectedly, the showers cleared about an hour before the scheduled start, allowing the covers to be removed, the super-sopper to soak up the large puddles in the outfield and play to begin just 30 minutes late.
When it did, the new ball swung in the heavy atmosphere and England was forced to struggle for survival on a wearing pitch. An ordeal they would have preferred to avoid.
"More than happy, more than happy," wicketkeeper Matt Prior of the prospect of more rain. "If it did, great."
England happy to avoid playing Australia? At Old Trafford, the worm had turned.
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