Umpires in the wrong at Old Trafford

The umpires should not have taken the players off the field for bad light on day four of the third Ashes Test.

Here we all were, in a crucial Test between England and Australia, with a sell-out crowd and the floodlights on, and off they went.

It was the wrong thing to do because there will be a time - possibly even on Monday - when a team need 25 to win, with six wickets in hand, there is a full house and the umpires stop play for bad light.

Because umpires Tony Hill and Marais Erasmus set the benchmark on Sunday, the players will have to go off.

"England wouldn't have wanted to bat against the new ball, but if Australia were willing to face Broad and Anderson in that light, they should have been allowed to. Cricket doesn't do itself any favours at times like that."

It was frustrating because the match was so nicely poised - Australia reaching 172-7 in their second innings for an overall lead of 331.

There are differences to playing with a red ball under floodlights rather than a white one, but you have to get on with it. There is no-one bowling in this match who is dangerous - it is not like playing against West Indies in the 1980s.

It is very, very disappointing and not the right way for the game to be played. I do not blame England captain Alastair Cook for not putting a slow bowler on as he wants to get off the field given the situation.

It is down to the umpires, and they had another poor day. There was also the slowing of the over rate by England, which the umpires should have chivvied along.

All they had to do was say to Cook, 'Come on, let's get this moving a bit', in a friendly way. Weak umpiring leads to these sorts of situations, in that players are naturally going to take advantage.

Warner respects Umpires decision

It was a very difficult situation for Australia captain Michael Clarke, in terms of timing his declaration. He had to bank on there being play on the final day - you can tuck that knowledge away that Monday is supposed to be a write-off but you cannot let it influence your decision-making too much.

In England's first innings, Stuart Broad gave a great demonstration of how well he can bat. I admonished him in the first Test when he should have walked, so it was great to see him do so on Sunday when he nicked Nathan Lyon without waiting for the umpire's decision.

We all want to see sportsmanship in cricket. Graeme Swann also walked after edging one behind and maybe they have all had a think about Trent Bridge.

It should also be remembered that Swann called a Sri Lankan batsman a cheat  for not walking last year.

David Warner, who made 41 after being promoted to open in the second innings, played well and deserved a half-century, which makes me wonder if he will open in the next Test. It is his natural position, after all.

He has copped a lot of flak during this Test, although I think he enjoys it. He is obviously a tough nut, albeit quite an unpredictable one.

My Test Match Special interview with Manchester United legend Gary Neville was amazing. Neville played a very good standard of cricket before plumping for a career in football and his younger brother, Phil, was an even better batsman.

It was brilliant to hear a top-class footballer give cricket so much credit for moulding him into that tough professional he became as a footballer.

What with Neville on Sunday and Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart dropping in on Saturday, it is apparent that football, contrary to what many people believe, has some deep-thinking and intelligent people.

Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Ben Dirs.

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Ashes venues: Old Trafford

Venue: Old Trafford, ManchesterDate: 1-5 AugustStart time: 11:00 BSTCoverage: Ball-by-ball Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, BBC Radio 4 Long Wave and via the BBC iPlayer Radio app, BBC Sport website & BBC Sport app; updates on BBC Radio 5 live; live text commentary on BBC Sport website, app & mobile devices

Old Trafford has changed in many respects since it last opened its doors for an Ashes Test, on 15 August 2005 when Australia battled their way to a tense draw.

More than 10,000 people - the figure was closer to 20,000, according to insiders - were turned away that day after cheap tickets were made available for the final day's play.

Since then, the famous venue's square has been rotated through 90 degrees to prevent the sun from setting behind the bowler's arm, while many areas of the ground have been redeveloped,  with the old pavilion refurbished and new stands and a large conference centre constructed.

Old Trafford retains the unwanted record of being the only ground in England where a Test has been abandoned without a ball bowled - this happened twice, in 1890 and 1938.

This will be its first Test since 2010 - and many Lancastrian fingers will be crossed that the weather holds.

BBC Test Match Special statistician Malcolm Ashton presents Old Trafford's Ashes records:

Ashes Tests: 28 (England won seven, Australia won seven, with 14 draws; Australia also beat South Africa in a "neutral" Test there in 1912).

First Ashes Test: 10-12 July 1884. There was no play on the first of the three scheduled days because of the weather, and the match finished as a draw.

Highest Ashes total: 656-8 declared by Australia in 1964. The match finished as a high-scoring draw, with England making 611 in reply. Seamer Tom Cartwright bowled 77 overs (for only 118 runs) in Australia's first innings. Not to be outdone, Australia spinner Tom Veivers sent down a mammoth 95.1 overs when England batted.

Lowest Ashes total: 70 by Australia in August 1888. WG Grace led England to a innings victory within two days as after the hosts made 172, the tourists were skittled for 81 and 70 as spinner Bobby Peel returned match figures of 11-68.

Allan Border is the leading scorer in Ashes Tests at Old Trafford

Highest individual Ashes score: 311 by Australia captain Bobby Simpson in that drawn fourth Test in 1964. Simpson added 201 for the first wicket with Bill Lawry before Lawry was run out for 106.

Most Ashes runs: 416 by another former Australia skipper, Allan Border, who played there in 1981, 1985, 1989 and 1993. He hit centuries on his first two visits, including a gritty unbeaten 146 to ensure a draw in 1985.

Best Ashes bowling (innings): 10-53 by England's Jim Laker in 1956 (see below) - which remain the best Test bowling figures of all time. India leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who took 10-74 against Pakistan in 1999, is the only other man to take all 10 wickets in a Test innings.

Most Ashes wickets: 23 by England fast bowler Tom Richardson who, like Laker, played only two Ashes Tests in Manchester. After capturing 5-49 and 5-107 in 1893, he claimed 7-168 and 6-76 against Australia three years later.

Ashes runs scored: 12,250, for the loss of 391 wickets at an average of 31.33 runs per wicket.

Ashes boundaries: 1,102 (1,067 fours, 35 sixes)

Just as the 1972 Lord's Test will always belong to Bob Massie, the mention of Old Trafford and 1956 should bring an instant response from cricket fans of a certain age.

Jim Laker. 10-53, and 19-90. Laker's Match.

The 34-year-old off-spinner was eight years into his Test career when Australia arrived in Manchester for the fourth Test of the 1956 Ashes, with the series level at 1-1.

1956 Ashes - Laker's 19 wickets sink Australia

England captain Peter May won the toss and batted against an Australian side which included some famous names in Neil Harvey, Keith Miller, Richie Benaud and Ray Lindwall.

The hosts' top three of Peter Richardson (104), Colin Cowdrey (80) and the Reverend David Sheppard (113 by the future Bishop of Liverpool) set the tone as England were bowled out for 459 on day two.

After a few overs with the new ball by Brian Statham and Trevor Bailey, it was time for Laker and his Surrey "spin twin", slow left-armer Tony Lock, to get to work on a pitch assisting spin.

Australia were mesmerised as Laker, once he had switched to the Stretford End, took 9-37 from 16.4 overs (including a spell of seven wickets for eight runs in 22 balls) with Lock (1-37 from 14) playing the supporting role at the other end.

From 48-0, the Aussies crumbled to 84 all out in 40.4 overs on the second afternoon and, trailing by 375, were asked to follow on.

Date: 26-31 July 1956

Venue: Old Trafford

England 459 (Rev DS Sheppard 113, PE Richardson 104)

Australia 84 (JC Laker 9-37) and 205 (CC McDonald 89, JC Laker 10-53)

England won by an innings and 170 runs

The tourists' second innings began badly as Colin McDonald retired hurt and Harvey bagged a pair, but the weather threatened to halt England's victory charge as only 45 minutes' play were possible on day three, and an hour across two spells on day four.

Australia began the final day on 84-2 - 291 in arrears - but as England pressed for the win, Laker continued to take wickets, while at the other end Lock bowled economically but without reward.

When he trapped wicketkeeper Len Maddocks lbw with time running out, Laker finished with astonishing figures of 10-53 from 51.2 overs - a mark that has never been surpassed in Test cricket. Indeed, his match figures of 19-90 remain comfortably the best in first-class cricket.

According to legend, Laker stopped at a pub while driving south that evening for a beer and a sandwich. He was not recognised.

What happened next? Laker's 19-wicket haul at Old Trafford put England 2-1 up in the series and ensured they retained the Ashes, but a draw at The Oval allowed them to win the series. Laker played his last Test in 1959, eventually retiring from first-class cricket in 1965 after a three-year spell with Essex at the end of his career. In retirement, he became a successful television commentator, and passed away in 1986 at the age of 64.

Shane Warne: 20 years on from the Ball of the Century

How could we select any other moment in Old Trafford's Ashes history than the one dubbed "The Ball of the Century"?

The 1993 series began at Old Trafford, with both sides fielding two debutants - England handed caps to New Zealand-born paceman Andrew Caddick and unassuming off-spinner Peter Such, while making their first appearance in a Baggy Green were opener Michael Slater and left-arm seamer Brendon Julian.

Such took six wickets and fellow spinner Phil Tufnell grabbed two more as Australia collapsed from 183-1 to 289 all out, but they - and every other spin bowler on the planet - were about to be eclipsed by a chubby blond leg-spinner from Ferntree Gully.

Gatting looks round after losing his off bail to Warne's first ball in Ashes cricket

Shane Keith Warne had played 11 Tests but was a largely unknown quantity in England when he was thrown the ball just before lunch on the second day.

Facing him was veteran England number three Mike Gatting, renowned as an excellent player of spin.

But with his first delivery in Ashes cricket, Warne sent down a ball which, arguably more than any other, changed the face of modern cricket - while simultaneously reviving the art of leg-spin which was largely moribund outside the subcontinent.

The ball drifted in, pitched outside leg stump and spun past Gatting's forward prod to remove his off bail.

It left the batsman momentarily befuddled as to how he had been dismissed, even wondering if wicketkeeper Ian Healy's glove had disturbed the bail.

Suddenly, a Warne-shaped cloud had fallen across England's bright new dawn - one that would continue to torment them for more than a decade until he finally hung up his international bowling boots in January 2007.

Non-striker Graham Gooch was reputed to have commented, as the burly Gatting trudged off, that if Warne had bowled him a cheese roll, it would never have got past him.

Read more about "The Ball of the Century" - 20 years on

What happened next? England were bowled out for 210, with Warne taking 4-51. The Aussies fared much better in their second innings, declaring on 432-5.

With England chasing an unlikely 512 to win, Gooch made a century before being bizarrely dismissed "handled the ball", but Warne (4-86) and Merv Hughes (4-92) set up a 179-run win. Australia won the series 4-1 to regain the Ashes, holding them until 2005.

Gatting played only six more Tests, bowing out after the 1994-95 tour of Australia with a batting average of 35.55 from 79 matches.

Warne spent the next 14 years tormenting international batsmen, but seemed to save his best performances for the old enemy, taking 195 of his 708 Test wickets against England.

Statistics correct as of 31 July.

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