And so the Edgbaston Ashes Test, essentially ruined by the rain despite England's best attempts to manufacture something special on the second and fourth days, ended in the most stale of stalemates.
Monday provided a sobering passage of play for England's bowling attack, who managed to pick up just three wickets throughout. It was the home team's first really disappointing day since Cardiff.
When conditions are ripe for swing, James Anderson and Graham Onions are extremely potent, as we saw on Friday morning.
But if the wicket goes a bit flat, and if Andrew Flintoff - who oddly failed to take a wicket in this match - cannot produce one of his famous inspired spells, then it all gets a little bit easy for the Aussies.
One obvious option, the man who has been banging on the door all summer, is Steve Harmison. In addition to enjoying a fine season at Durham, he also gave Australia plenty of problems when turning out for the Lions just before the Ashes.
But he has let down England on various occasions in the past few seasons and when he is off-colour he is usually badly off-colour. Further complicating the issue is the news that he has badly blistered feet - and England will be wary of picking a bowler with a slight fitness doubt given that Flintoff's knee is such an issue.
Another possibility is Broad's Nottinghamshire team-mate, the left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom, who recently picked up a five-wicket haul in an innings at that fast-bowlers' graveyard, Taunton. He is also arguably better suited to swing-friendly Headingley than Harmison.
Broad's runs are always a pleasant bonus, and he produced another valuable hand with a knock of 55 on Sunday. But, as former England all-rounder Dominic Cork says, Broad's run are exactly that - a bonus. He is in the side for his bowling.
"You have to take 20 wickets to win a Test and I'm getting tired of hearing people saying we're going to weaken the batting order if we replace Broad," Cork told me during a break in summarising duties for BBC Radio 5 Live.
"The top six bat and the bowlers bowl, so when we get that into our minds we stop worrying about the runs scored by numbers seven, eight and nine.
"You want them to bat a little bit but their runs are a bonus. Jimmy Anderson batting at 10 has been batting very well, Andrew Flintoff, Matt Prior and Paul Collingwood have been a solid middle order combination and whevetever you get in between is a bonus.
"Broad is a fantastic cricketer but he's not getting as many wicket as he should be and a period of time in county cricket might help him.
"I accept that it's difficult to change a winning side, but this is a case where we need to make sure that while we get the Aussies down we don't allow them back. We've got the hand on their throat and we should make sure we squeeze them."
Perhaps the main problem for Broad is working out exactly what kind of bowler he is. His height and pace mean he can be something of an enforcer, but when the wickets are slow he is best served by pitching the ball up further and looking for sideways movement. Making the adjustment is not easy, and that might explain why it took him until virtually the end of the match at Edgbaston to begin to make an impression.
It was, incidentally, extremely telling that Andrew Strauss waited until 50 overs had been bowled in Australia's second innings before Broad was handed the ball.
If Flintoff does not make Headingley, then Broad's position is secure and England would have to choose between replacing their big all-rounder with a batsman or a bowler. It's an odious situation to be in, because the 1-0 lead suggests caution and a strong batting line-up - but negativity could be seized upon by the Australians.
And what of the Australian options? Their selection decisions have so far foxed most pundits from down under that many have given up predicting what side will turn out next. Brett Lee and Stuart Clark must both come into the reckoning with neither Peter Siddle nor Nathan Hauritz secure - though Hauritz would return at The Oval, which always takes some spin.
Mitchell Johnson has struggled with his line and length all series and has been seriously disappointing. He is now also struggling with a hamstring problem so his injury could be convenient for the selectors.
Australia have also been very quiet on wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, who fractured a finger in the warm-up, thus handing Graham Manou an unexpected debut behind the stumps in Birmingham.
Manou did nothing wrong with the gloves but Australia will be hoping the more experienced Haddin will be fit enough to return.
Amazingly, they seem to have solved their opening batsman headache with two unexpected half-centuries from Shane Watson after he came in for Phillip Hughes.
England must study some DVDs of Watson batting and find his flaws - it cannot be an accident that he started the week with a Test average below 20