Australia, the world champions, did a very un-Australian thing at the end of the third Test at Old Trafford -- they celebrated a draw.

There was Glenn McGrath, the same man who had predicted a 5-0 Ashes whitewash, finding a silver lining from two weeks in which England [Images] had first levelled the series at Edgbaston, then got to within one wicket of going 2-1 up in Manchester.

"They are two matches England should have won very convincingly and they've just scraped for a win in the previous game [by two runs] and walked away with a draw, so they'd be wondering: 'what do we have to do to beat these guys?'" he reasoned.

It is a valid point of view.

But it is hard to imagine members of Australia's previous Ashes teams ever expressing such thoughts.

Former captain Steve Waugh would probably have preferred swimming in crocodile-infested swamp water before suggesting Englishmen could play cricket.

This England side apparently can. They have been doing the unthinkable in relentlessly harrying the Australians.

• Ponting saves Australia | Images

But they were the more disappointed side at Old Trafford on Monday, having reduced Australia to 371 for nine chasing 423 to win, they could not root out McGrath and Brett Lee [Images] with their last 24 dramatic deliveries.

It is hard not to sense that their chance of winning back the Ashes for the first time since 1986-87 may have slipped away.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ADAVANTAGES

Captain Michael Vaughan [Images], though, sounded more positive than his counterpart Ricky Ponting [Images] on Monday evening.

"We have been talking about psychological advantages and disadvantages all summer," he said.

"I don't think it will matter in the Trent Bridge [the fourth test] in nine days time.

"It can be hard to produce two good performances on the trot, it's such high intensity and high-pressure cricket.

"I thought we were outstanding in this game, better than we were at Edgbaston, we produced four days of really good cricket. I don't think we lost any session.

"Three weeks ago [after losing the first Test, by 239 runs] we were written off, written out of the contest. I've told the guys to keep their heads up. I really believe we played a great game here."

Had it not been for the third day being washed out, England would surely have won handsomely at Old Trafford.

Ponting, with his cheeky smile firmly in place, has been playing mind games with his opponents for most of the tour, casting doubt here and expressing reservations there.

England, the second best side in the world, had yet to be fully tested. Their top order was technically suspect, the middle order green. Steve Harmison could be wild and Andrew Flintoff [Images] had never played Australia before. Ponting had Shane Warne [Images], while Vaughan had Ashley Giles.

GILLESPIE CONCERNS

But on Monday, despite his elation after scoring a courageous 156 to save a game which "I thought...had slipped away from us, I must admit", concerns crept in.

While he gave his batsmen a vote of confidence, Ponting was less convinced by his bowlers.

There were worries over Jason Gillespie, for example, with three wickets for 300 runs in the series. Australia's fielding, too, had been downright scrappy.

As for his own captaincy, Ponting said: "I must admit at different times in the last two Test matches I have been scratching my head and wondering where we were going to go and what we were going to do here".

Ultimately, though, anyone poring over the entrails of the last two weeks -- "You won't find two better Test matches," according to Ponting -- is just guessing at what they might presage.

Englishmen will concentrate on Vaughan's return to form, with his 166 in Manchester, and a top-order in which every batsman has scored at least one half-century. They will focus on the thundering hooves of Flintoff, Harmison and Simon Jones, who reverse-swung his way to six wickets in the first innings.

Australians will take heart in Ponting's rebound, Shane Warne's continuing threat and their side's absolute refusal to buckle.

They will also believe that McGrath, having missed Edgbaston with an ankle injury and been only at three-quarters pace at Old Trafford, will return to wreak havoc.

If it is hard to produce two performances on the trot, how more difficult for England to do it for three.

In the meantime, cricket lovers will bask in what has already been a classic contest.

Some 10,000 fans were turned away from a heaving Old Trafford on the last day of the Test and nobody on Tuesday was talking about Chelsea, Arsenal [Images] or even Manchester United [Images].