Play was suspended for six minutes at the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne in bizarre circumstances when third umpire Richard Illingworth found himself stuck in a lift.

The players had returned to the field for the scheduled 1.25pm restart after the lunch break, when the two central umpires – Joel Wilson and Michael Gough – paused proceedings because Englishman Illingworth was unable to return to his position in an office in the grandstand.

Eventually, the fourth umpire, Phil Gillespie, ran into the third umpire’s office to ensure play could resume, with Illingworth returning a few moments later. He arrived with a sheepish grin and a wave.

The third umpire’s role is to make the final call on reviews from players or the standing umpires.

The Channel 7 broadcaster Mel McLaughlin revealed that she was caught in the lift with Illingworth and a few others.

“We [she and Illingworth] were having a bit of a chat... and the doors open and then close and then didn’t move again,” she said.

“He’s standing in the corner and he went, ‘Do you have a phone? Can you please call someone and let them know I’m in the lift, I’m going to be a little bit late?’

“So yeah, everyone got to work and we got freed, I don’t know, 10 minutes later. Sorry everyone!”

When Illingworth escaped, McLaughlin said he “ran quite quickly straight upstairs!”

At that point, Australia were in the middle of a collapse to 16 for four in their second innings, but a partnership of 153 between Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh meant they were in control by the end of the day.

However, all four results appear possible, with Australia leading by 241 runs with four second innings wickets in hand.

Pakistan’s two left-arm quicks, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mir Hamza, have shared the six wickets to fall so far.