Daniel Cherny in the Australian , externalwas more positive about Broad, labelling him the man most likely to seal defeat for Australia.

"Broad, almost a decade and a half after first inflicting himself upon the old enemy remains among the sharpest of thorns in Australia’s side.

"He bowled terrifically during the first session of day two, regularly beating the bat and bogging down Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja. While it was Mark Wood who eventually drew the edge from Labuschagne, that had come only after Broad had cheekily switched the bails at the striker’s end for reasons best known to him. Mind games or not, it worked.

"James Anderson steals the limelight for longevity, but this is the fifth successive Ashes series in England in which Broad has played all five Tests.

"Asked before the series about the threat posed by his nemesis, David Warner quipped that Broad had to worry about getting selected first after being controversially overlooked for the first Test of the 2021-22 series.

"By stumps, Broad had taken more wickets in this series than anyone else and looked a worthy contender to be player of the series."

Jai Bednall in the Courier Mail, external believes Stuart Broad has provoked another 'spirit of cricket' debate after he switched the bails immediately before Marnus Labuschagne's dismissal.

"Cricket fans have hit out at England cricketer Stuart Broad after he was seen playing with the bails before Marnus Labuschagne’s dismissal on day two of the Fifth Test.

"In peculiar scenes, Broad walked to the strikers end after the fourth ball of the 43rd over of the Australian innings and swapped the position of the bails.

"Labuschagne observed the bizarre move and the players – including Usman Khawaja at the nonstrikers end – appeared to share a laugh.

"But the smile was wiped from Labuschagne’s face when he nicked Mark Wood’s very next ball to Joe Root at first slip.

"As a delighted Broad celebrated by first patting Khawaja on the back and then running into the arms of Root, Labuschagne walked past the umpire mouthing something in a frustrated manner.

"Viewers began speculating what he was upset about, given Khawaja had turned down a single earlier in the over which kept Labuschagne on strike.

"The Aussie No. 3 also appeared to mutter something about bad light, but the focus quickly turned to Broad when new angles of his disruptive act emerged."

Switching to the Aussie media now and Daniel Brettig in the Sydney Morning Herald, external was mildly critical of Australia's slow batting on day two, though he felt the late runs from the tail justified the approach in the end.

"At the back end of this Ashes tour, with the clear goal of winning the series, that big prize did appear to cloud Australia’s thinking early on day two.

"It’s true that England were a bowler down after Moeen Ali’s groin problem. It was also true that the overhead conditions and a newish ball made conditions very favourable for seam and swing."

"But it was in the subtle shades of tempo that the Australians found themselves playing catch-up for much of the day, before some late order runs proved the soundness of the overall approach, if not quite the niceties of each partnership.

"If this was not quite the way Australia would have hoped to go in front at the start of the day, it was a welcome departure from the script of the corresponding game in 2019, ultimately won easily by England.

"Back then, the tourists had surrendered a first innings lead of more than 60; this time, the game is shaping up in tantalisingly similar fashion to Edgbaston and Headingley. A hectic series may have one more vivid memory to unfold."

The Daily Star

There is a less subtle pun found on the back page of the Star.

Image source, Star back page

Daily Mirror

Cricket headline of the day probably goes to the Mirror.

Image source, Mirror

The Daily Telegraph

Most of the back pages focus on the Jonny Bairstow-Steve Smith run out incident, as well as Stuart Broad's switching of the bails immediately before Marnus Labuschagne's dismissal (more of that later).

Image source, Daily Telegraph

Andy Zaltzman
Cricket statistician on Test Match Special

This summer’s Ashes series have been blessed by closely-fought matches (although, ironically, the only one-sided match was the one that ended in a soggy draw). The gaps between the teams after the first innings has been seven runs at Edgbaston, 91 at Lord’s, 26 at Headingley, 275 at Old Trafford, and now 12 at The Oval. The women’s Test saw a 10-run margin after the first innings.

To illustrate quite how lucky we have been as cricket lovers this summer, today’s guesswork challenge looks at the previous 20 men’s Ashes series, from 1985 to 2021-22, comprising 104 Tests. In those matches:

(a) What was the average first-innings gap between the two teams?

(b) How many matches had a first-innings gap below 30?

(c) How many matches had a first-innings gap of 150 runs or more?

Time for today's Daily ZaltzQuiz from TMS' regular statistician Andy Zaltzman.

Don't forget to send in your guesses to Twitter via #bbccricket, via WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (standard network charges apply).

We will reveal the answer at 10:30 BST.

Hmmm, a potentially wet start to the day then, though the forecast suggests things will dry up as the morning progresses, with the chance of an odd shower in the afternoon.

We are set for an on-time start as it stands. Of course if we hear any different we will let you know.

Paul Harrison: Raining quite hard 17 miles SW of The Oval.

Matthew Henry
BBC Sport at The Oval

There’s a bit more murk around this morning. It looks like more bowler-friendly conditions in this Test.

Before we look at some of the media's reaction to Friday's action, let's get an update on the weather.

My colleague Matthew Henry is already in position at The Oval...

Former Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath thinks spinners Todd Murphy and Joe Root will play a huge part in this match as it develops over the weekend.

To put Australia's batting in perspective, here are some key stats from analysts CricViz:

• Labuschagne's 'expected runs' total for his innings was -31.1, meaning he scored 31 runs less than he would have been expected to by CricViz given the bowling and conditions
• Labuschagne's attacking shot percentage was 8.5% - the lowest of any batter in the match. Khawaja's was 19.1%
• At lunch Australia had played attacking shots to 22% of deliveries. England attacked 41% in their first innings
• But there was more movement in the morning session on day two than any other time in the match with almost 40% more swing than on day one

Ex-England captain Michael Vaughan said some of Australia's batting on day two of the final Ashes Test was the worst he had ever seen from the tourists.

Australia were dismissed for 295 at The Oval to take a lead of 12 - somewhat of a recovery from 185-7.

They resumed on 61-1 but scored just 54 runs in the morning session, leaving them exposed to a collapse after lunch.

"They are taking home the urn, but I've never seen Australia play with so much fear," Vaughan told Test Match Special.

"They are usually so aggressive and try to take the game forward.

"They have just sat in to bat a long period of time without remembering you have to put a bit of pressure on the bowlers.

"This morning I thought it was the worst I've ever seen Australia bat in my time watching them. They never play like that."

Read more here.

Of course it wouldn't be an Ashes Test without a marginal decision.

England thought they had run out Steve Smith when he was on 43, but replays showed Jonny Bairstow had just dislodged the bail before the ball is in his gloves.

Australia were 194-7 at that stage. If they go on to win the match this moment will be seen as a crucial turning point.

Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport chief cricket writer at Old Trafford

If England's romp to 283 in less than 55 overs ensured day one was never short of incident, day two was a more sedate arm-wrestle punctuated by moments of theatre.

Joe Root's stunning catch to remove Marnus Labuschagne, Stuart Broad whipping up the crowd and taking two wickets in as many overs, sub fielder George Ealham producing shades of Gary Pratt to almost run out Steve Smith and Ben Stokes' grand finale were the standouts.

But the overriding theme was the passive nature of Australia's crawl towards England's total.

The slow plod could have been a response to the quality of the bowling, the difficulty of the conditions, a desire to be the antithesis of England's swashbuckling style, or a combination of all three. Either way, Australia almost batted themselves into trouble.

Only Smith, who went past Don Bradman's 553 runs at The Oval to become the leading overseas run-scorer on this ground, batted at anything like his normal tempo and, in doing so, kept the tourists afloat with the help of Cummins and Murphy.

The match is now set up to be shaped by England's second innings, which will begin when play resumes on the third morning.

England have the opportunity to set a target beyond Australia's reach, the tourists a chance to dismiss England cheaply for a comfortable fourth-innings chase.

Given the nature of the series, a tight finish to this Test is most likely and would be most fitting.

Read more here.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of day three of the fifth Ashes Test from The Oval in London.

Australia were bowled out for 295 right at the end of day two to hand them a 12-run lead after the first innings, potentially setting up yet another thrilling finish.

Here are the best bits from yesterday:

A one-innings shootout to decide the final Ashes Test.

Was it ever going to end any other way?

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images