A WET Welsh Saturday could well stall what is proving to be a gripping opening Ashes Test after another see-sawing day at the Swalec Stadium.

There have been 244.5 overs of engrossing action in front of sell-out crowds and yesterday saw the first test of Glamorgan's £600,000 outfield.

It started drizzling minutes after the players had returned from tea and there was a delay of just over two hours with Cardiff collecting yet another tick for the swift manner in which the hover cover raced across to cover the wicket.

It paid off with the cricket able to resume under floodlights – the first time that a Test has been played in such conditions in the UK – though many of the crowd had headed home and they weren't out there for long.

England will hope that Keith Exton and his groundstaff are pressed into action once again to dent the hopes of a positive result, for there seems to be only one team in the running for victory.

Of course, Derek Brockway and his fellow weather experts could well get things wrong and another bumper gathering in Cardiff may spend less time than predicted sheltering under the stands and in the city centre.

Yesterday's shower caught everyone on the hop, though it shouldn't have come as a surprise now that the Swalec is the wettest Test ground in the UK on annual rainfall figures, and Glam will be hoping for some luck today so that they can avoid a refund scenario.

And the Australians will hope they can press on with their march to getting the series lead rather than frustratedly watching the covered square from the pavilion.

For they have got the better of a toothless England attack and recovered from a morning wobble to dominate proceedings again.

Just as on day two, they pulled away in the middle session with vice-captain Michael Clarke and Marcus North compiling a frustrating fifth-wicket stand of 143.

Yet it was a day that started superbly for Strauss and his team. After two sessions pinned firmly on the back foot, they roared back into contention with three wickets in an eventful morning.

Graeme Swann had said the previous evening that the team had wanted to welly the soft, unswinging ball into the Taff and get their hands on a fresh new one.

Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting had picked off tons in a solid, sensible manner but the arrival of a shiny Duke after nine overs brought England to life.

Katich was walking off just minutes after he had turned his back on a Flintoff bouncer that sickeningly slammed right in between the left-hander's shoulder blades.

Jimmy Anderson was swinging the ball from the River Taff End and got one to hoop in and trap the centurion leg before to end his superb long knock.

The Burnley Express snared new man Mike Hussey half an hour later and suddenly the crowd was involved and the hosts were lively in the field – Ravi Bopara to the fore with some scampering stops.

It got even better when Anderson was taken out of the attack and was replaced by Monty Panesar. The spinner used to create a buzz around the ground when he enthusiastically came on but sadly the only real excitement he is creating at present is through his sometimes comical attempts at fielding.

Nonetheless the left-armer still managed to snare the key wicket of Ponting for a majestic 150, albeit with a touch of fortune.

The Aussie skipper, who would have been eyeing a first Ashes double ton, can count himself unlucky after playing the ball on to his wicket with the toe end of his bat.

Suddenly it was game on with a pair of new batsmen in the middle. Yet it wasn't a worry-free morning for skipper Andrew Strauss, who had also been a touch too defensive with the new ball.

Tall seamer Stuart Broad was expensive and unthreatening, increasing the pressure on Flintoff and Anderson.

The Nottinghamshire paceman is pleasing on the eye with the bat but there remain question marks over the amount of devil he has with the ball.

And while the twin-spinners were better than they were on England's troublesome Thursday, they still frustrated on a wearing pitch.

Panesar presented too many easy scoring opportunities by bowling too short while Swann shared his trouble at finding the right length but was at the other end of the scale, gifting countless full tosses.

It had been England's morning but the Australians were still in the box seat and after a slight wobble they got their noses in front.

Clarke and North played just as sensibly as Katich and Ponting (the glare remains on KP) to help themselves to 83 and 54no respectively, the former giving Broad a much-needed wicket after the resumption.

Collingwood came on to bowl some quick cutters just before tea and such was the turn that successive balls whizzed past both North and Prior for four byes.

And it was that spin that will lead England to hope for a day of showers so that they can sidestep a potentially hazardous final day of batting to stay at 0-0.