THERE were more than 6,000 reasons for Headingley to lose its Test status to Durham's Riverside yesterday as England battled to avoid defeat to India.

With the eyes of the cricketing world on Leeds, Yorkshire fans delivered an embarrassing snub to England's attempts to save the third Test.

Just 7,700 people bothered to turn up at Headingley, a ground with a capacity of 14,000, on a warm and dry Sunday in the middle of a Bank Holiday weekend.

And the attendance would have been painfully small had admission prices not been slashed to £6 for adults and £3 concessions after 3pm yesterday.

Nasser Hussain supported Headingley's battle to remain as an elite Test venue before this match - words that were backed in Northern Echo Sport on Thursday by bullish Yorkshire chief executive Chris Hassell.

But the Leeds stadium, the beneficiary of a recent £10m facelift, was almost half-empty - much to the English Cricket Board's anger.

The ECB has been unhappy with Headingley crowds for several years - just 9,000 watched a one-day international between England and Sri Lanka there last month - and even Friday's sell-out failed to appease them.

From next year, one of three northern grounds - Headingley, the Riverside and Old Trafford - will miss out on a Test each summer on a rolling rota.

Manchester will be the first to be overlooked when Zimbabwe and South Africa visit these shores in 2003, but Leeds' long-term cause has not been helped by yesterday's paltry attendance.

The new-look Headingley also came in for stinging criticism from former Durham paceman Simon Hughes, now a Channel Four commentator.

He described the West Stand as "featureless", and branded the East Stand a "waste of money" and "looking like an unfinished apartment block in Benidorm".

Those fans that did bother to turn up saw Hussain and Alec Stewart mount a valiant rearguard action to leave England on 239 for four going into the final day.

With at least 39 overs remaining when John Crawley was out to reduce England to 148 for four, India harboured realistic hopes of forcing victory inside four days.

But an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 91, with Hussain on 90 and Stewart 40 at the close, gives England a slim chance of claiming a draw when play resumes this morning.

England still trail by 116 runs, however, and if a full day's play is possible today India should wrap up the win with plenty to spare.

After England started the day on 264 for nine in their first innings, requiring an unlikely 429 to avoid the follow-on, Matthew Hoggard was last man out for a duck after 15 minutes of cricket.

Having been bowled out for 273 after a poor batting performance on Saturday, England knew they needed to bat for more than five sessions to prevent India drawing level at 1-1 in the four-match series.

Such a scenario appeared highly unlikely on a wearing pitch of variable bounce, and the early loss of the in-form Michael Vaughan to Ajit Agarkar for 15 made the hosts' task even stiffer.

For the third time in his three Test innings thus far, Robert Key made a start but failed to build a big score.

He had compiled a patient 34 before playing round a straight delivery from Anil Kumble and was out lbw.

Mark Butcher, the hero of Headingley 12 months ago when he propelled England to an improbable win over Australia, put his side in deeper trouble when he contrived to be dismissed by the innocuous medium pace of Sanjay Bangar.

Butcher's loose drive outside the off stump, which provided a catch for Rahul Dravid at first slip, was followed shortly afterwards by Crawley slapping Bangar straight to Virender Sehwag at cover.

With England in dire straits and needing to dig in, both shots were indefensible.

Hussain initially took the fight to India, defiantly lofting Harbhajan Singh over mid-wicket for six and then pulling Bangar for two boundaries in an over.

Stewart - who was left stranded on 78 not out in the morning - hit the first two balls of his second innings, from Bangar, for four through mid-wicket.

The England stalwarts retreated into their shells during the final session and at one stage they played out five successive maidens.

After taking 149 balls to progress from 150 for four to 200 for four, however, they hit seven fours in 21 deliveries as India's bowling became ragged.

Hussain reached a notable personal landmark by striking three fours, one all-run, in a Bangar over to pass 2,000 runs as England captain.

But with the new ball still only four overs old, England face a mammoth challenge this morning in an attempt to stave off their first defeat in six Test matches.

Coach Duncan Fletcher remained upbeat, however, and said: "The guys showed a lot of character, especially Nasser and Alec.

"Nasser seems to play his best knocks when the wickets are difficult and he showed again that he likes a scrap.

"They showed their experience but we've still got a huge battle on our hands.