Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes that the umpires were wrong to suspend play in the third Ashes Test for bad light on day four at Old Trafford.

Marais Erasmus and Tony Hill hauled the players off with Australia on 172-7 and with a lead of 331 runs over England, much to the fury of Baggy Greens' skipper Michael Clarke.

Hussain wrote in his column in the Daily Mail: "The regulations talk about safety and the light needing to be 'reasonable' for play but there really should be more common sense involved too.

"Certainly, the ICC's directive that play should continue whenever possible did not seem to be adhered to when the umpires first took the players off.

"Coming off when they did was not great and to say that safety was an issue under the floodlights was not very satisfactory. When was the last time you saw a fielder get injured in the covers because he couldn't see the ball?"

England can retain the Ashes on day five with a draw or a victory at Old Trafford.