Michael Clarke fumes as umpires haul Australia's batsmen off ground for bad light An annoyed Michael Clarke has remonstrated with umpires after they ordered players off the ground for bad light on Sunday, but rain has also intervened to leave the tourists' Ashes comeback hopes in grave doubt. For a while there England fielders were asking about the light when they bat and it kept dropping, dropping and dropping and eventually we told the captain to bowl spin which obviously he decided not to and it pushed our hand because it was a safety issue. For much of the day Manchester escaped the downpour that had been forecast for day four but 30 minutes after the third Test was suspended because of the fading light, the hovering pitch cover went on as rain finally arrived. Michael Clarke with umpires Tony Hill (R) and Marais Erasmus after play is stopped for bad light. Australia were on the brink of a declaration at 7-172 in their second innings, a lead of 331 runs, when bad light was called. The players never got back on to the field and play was abandoned later in the afternoon. There is more heavy rain predicted by the Met Office overnight and Monday, meaning England could retain the Ashes without another ball being bowled. The floodlights had been switched on at Old Trafford earlier in the day, yet umpires Marais Erasmus and Tony Hill felt it was too dark to continue, to the frustration of Australia and a near capacity crowd. The Australian captain, who was unbeaten on 30 at the time, expressed his displeasure at the decision, but since amendments to the Laws of Cricket were made in 2010, umpires do not have to consult batsmen to stop play for bad light. Caught short: Steve Smith is run out. The playing conditions state umpires can suspend a game for safety reasons if they believe there is an "obvious and foreseeable" risk that would make it "unreasonable or dangerous" for play to continue. Hill and Erasmus, brandishing light meters in the middle of the ground, said they would have been comfortable if England bowled spin at both ends but when Alastair Cook took Graeme Swann out of the attack, replacing him with Stuart Broad, they stepped in. "When we start losing it [the ball] completely from square leg then we give the skipper an option, which we did, and suggest we use spin and he didn't want to do that," Hill said. Erasmus said England players had been inquiring about the light as it deteriorated. Quick runs: Michael Clarke carves a drive through the offside. "For a while there England fielders were asking about the light ... and it kept dropping, dropping and dropping and eventually we told the captain to bowl spin which obviously he decided not to and it pushed our hand because it was a safety issue," Erasmus said. Australia's David Warner said Clarke was not happy with the decision, which was made with 32 overs left in the day's play. "The umpires have control over that now," said Warner, who was shifted back to opener and top-scored on Sunday with 41. They deemed it dangerous and we just had to come off and respect their decision. Obviously Michael was a little bit annoyed with that but he felt it didn't change in that last half an hour. Dismissed: Shane Watson plays an uppercut down to third man. There was a different view from England wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who said "it was dark." "Certainly, I reckon for two to three overs at the end the light had dropped," Prior said. You can always tell with the floodlights on when they are aiding natural light. When it drops below that it does make a massive difference. We could tell light had dropped and the umpires made that decision. The umpires' call became less relevant when the rain began, and Australia will feel desperately hard done by if the Ashes are conceded with a draw on Monday as a result of the weather. Clarke's team were far from across the line here, but their chances of securing the win they need to keep a series fightback alive, with two matches to play, have taken a serious hit thanks to the time lost on Sunday. Delaying tactics in the field also slowed Australia down, Warner said, in particular when England discussed reviewing the left-hander's big swipe and miss on 19. We expected that. We knew the bowlers were going to take their time," he said. The one they were going to review off me was a massive time waster because they walked into a circle and said 'let's just hold back a little bit'. And Broady [Stuart Broad] as well, walking from fine leg to mid-off. He took his time. Broad, who wasted crucial seconds in the first Test by taking off and putting back on a shoe, took no time to leave the field earlier in the day, surprisingly walking on 32 after feathering Nathan Lyon to 'keeper Brad Haddin rather than waiting for the umpire to raise his finger. David Warner returned to the top of the order. This was in stark contrast to his controversial decision to stay put when he clearly edged a ball at Trent Bridge but unlike on that occasion he knew Australia were not out of reviews in any case. Play can be prolonged for 30 minutes later than usual on the final day on Monday to make up for lost overs but can not start early, and there is more rain forecast by the Met Office for the first two sessions. Having bowled England out for 368 in the morning - Peter Siddle (4-63) and Nathan Lyon (1-95) finished off the tail - Australia extended their lead with a limited-overs approach in their second innings, sending Warner out to open instead of Shane Watson. Returned to his regular position after just a single innings in the middle order, Warner top-scored for the afternoon with 41 before coming unstuck with a hook, not for the first time, in the direction of Joe Root. The England opener, on the receiving end of Warner's attempted blow in a Birmingham bar in June, dived forward at deep square-leg, and was clearly thrilled with the twist of fate. Watson was shifted to No. 4 and made 18 before prodding his own uppercut off a Tim Bresnan delivery down Kevin Pietersen's throat at third man. Ordinarily, such a shot would and should invite scorn but the situation was such that Australia were chasing quicks and, moving along at 4.77 an over, averages were put on the backburner for aggression. There was no real excuse for the ugly run out of Steve Smith for 19, though, and Clarke was to blame, turning a hungry Smith back when two runs were on offer after lazily ambling through for just a single. Prior said England would be "more than happy" if it rained all day on Monday but were not taking their retention of the Ashes for granted yet. "We have to steel ourselves and prepare as though we are going into a full day's cricket," he said. We know what is at the end of the line for us but it goes back to one ball at a time and keeping it simple.