Heavy overnight and early morning rain meant the first session of the final day of the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston on Tuesday was washed out.

Play on the fifth day at Edgbaston should have started at 11:00 am (1000 GMT) but with rain still falling on the Birmingham ground the pitch and square remained fully covered.

The umpires then announced lunch would be taken at 12:30 pm (1130 GMT) in the hope of a prompt start in the afternoon, with 98 overs scheduled following a rain-shortened day three.

Should play resume, a thrilling finish is in prospect after veteran England seamer Stuart Broad removed Australia's Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, the world's two top-ranked Test batsmen, late on Monday's fourth day.

Australia reached stumps on 107-3, still needing a further 174 runs to reach a target of 281 in the first of this five-match series.

Only two teams have made more to win in the fourth innings of a Test at Edgbaston, with England posting 378-3 against India last year and South Africa making 283-5 in 2008.

Australia are bidding for a first Ashes series win in England in 22 years, with England aiming for a first Test campaign victory over their arch-rivals since 2015. (AFP)