Rain stalled England's Ashes momentum by delaying the start of the third day's play at Old Trafford.
Forecast heavy overnight and morning rain came to pass in Manchester, where the hosts were hoping to consolidate a highly promising position in the third Test after reducing Australia to 210 for seven in reply to their own first-innings 444.
With rain still falling but predicted to clear from the north-west, prospects of play were poor before lunch but significantly improved afterwards.
