AS LUNCHTIME approached at Lord's yesterday, Michael Slater, an Australian cricketer with an affinity for the home of cricket, pushed open the visitors' dressing room balcony doors, made his way outside and, on his guitar, strummed out the chords to `Singing in the Rain'.

Simultaneously, a member of MCC, ensconced under the canopy on the top deck of the pavilion, produced a squeezebox from his bag and began to play a lilting sea shanty about being bound for the Rio Grande.

As the latest of a series of heavy showers was swashing down at the time, and the outfield, swathed in green plastic, resembled a gentle North Sea swell, it was all rather apt. It has paid rather more to have a sense of humour than a Test match ticket these past four days.

Yesterday was not quite a wash-out, but it came close to it, with play not possible until 5.40 p.m., and that only because of the lion-hearted endeavours of the ground staff. The 17 overs and four balls sent down still means that all but 103 of the scheduled 360 overs have been lost and there will be more refunds to come.

Another blank day today and it would still be the soggiest, and most expensive, home Test since England and Pakistan lost the second and final two days of their match here 10 years ago.

A clear weather forecast however could just provide the most testing of days for England and a chance for Australia to square the series against the odds, for Australia flung the bat willingly yesterday evening, lost wickets in the process but took their score, in response to England's 77, from 131 for two - with Matthew Elliott emulating Slater in scoring a maiden Test century on his debut at Lord's - to 213 for seven.

Having worked hard for his 55 on Saturday, when he benefited more than most from some dire England catching, Elliott pulled, cut and drove his way to three figures in quite nerveless fashion, hitting 20 fours in all before holing out to long leg for 112.

A lead of 136 means that Mark Taylor will almost certainly declare first thing this morning, leaving himself a double bite of the cherry in an effort to force an improbable victory, or at worst indulge in some points scoring.

Saturday had seen England's worst performance of the summer by a street. They had been bowled out - almost single-handedly by Glenn McGrath's superb record breaking 8 for 38 - for 77, their lowest at Lord's this century and worst since Curtly Ambrose laid them to waste for 46 in Trinidad three years ago, and they followed it up with a display of catching that belied the form of the Texaco matches and Edgbaston.

McGrath's bowling in this match has been nothing short of inspirational. At Edgbaston, he had struggled for rhythm, mindful of the English length he knew he must bowl but unable, intuitively to find it. Too short for much of the time, he over-compensated and was driven without mercy for his pains.

This time though it all came together as he bowled unchanged from the Pavilion End, taking three for 21 on Friday, and following it with Saturday figures of 10:3-6-17-5. It was irresistible and gave him the best figures by an Australian at Lord's in the 31 Tests the sides have played, eclipsing Bob Massie's 1972 double haul of 8-53 and 8-84 (the old swinger was in town but missed McGrath on Saturday because he turned up with the wrong tickets).

Make no mistake, Lord's with the slope running laterally, is not an easy place to bowl and takes time to learn the lines and angles. McGrath though is a fast learner, bowling naggingly from over the top of the stumps, using every inch of his 6 ft 6 ins to gain bounce and seam from an erratic cracked surface, and swinging the ball cleverly with good length away swing mixed in with fuller inswing.

Some of the batting was not clever, with Crawley pushing awkwardly, Croft launching himself and Gough trying to set the guns blazing. But Nasser Hussain had played diligently for almost two hours before he was lbw to the first ball after a rain break and McGrath's inswinger was perfectly pitched. It was the right thing at the right time and today could see more of the same.