Rain hampers England’s push for win

Rain threatened to ruin England's push for its first victory of the Ashes series on the fourth day of the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne.

Play was called off after relentless rain forced the players off the field with Australia 103 for 2, trailing England by 61 runs with David Warner and Steven Smith in the middle.

Earlier, England was bowled out for its overnight score of 491 after James Anderson fell to Pat Cummins in the very first ball of the day handing the pacer his fourth wicket. It meant Alastair Cook carried the bat with 244 not out.

Cook’s marathon effort was the highest score by anyone carrying his bat. In the process of scoring his fifth Test double century, the former England captain also surpassed Brian Lara to become the sixth highest run-scorer in Test cricket.

With the cushion of a 164-run lead, England began well with the ball as it removed Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja early to send panic waved through Australia’s camp.

Bancroft started in an attacking fashion hitting four boundaries before he chopped Chris Woakes on to his stumps on 27. Anderson then had Khawaja caught behind for 11.

However, Warner (40) and Smith (25) kept England at bay with a steady, unbeaten 38-run stand before rain arrived.

The relentless downpour washed out the entire last session before play was finally called off at 5.20pm.

England now has three sessions to push for its first win of the series after losing the first three Tests to concede the urn.