Darren Lehmann, who rates Clarke so highly that he once offered to give up his place in the Test team to him, said the Australian captain could have loosened South Africa's grip on the No. 1 ranking by declaring behind on Monday to push for a result.

Clarke declared Australia's innings closed at 5-565, one hour and 20 minutes into day five, with a lead of 115. The captain's unbeaten 259 gave Australia a faint chance of conjuring a win, but with a full day lost to rain, the Proteas batsmen did enough to stave off defeat at the Gabba.

The Test was called off with South Africa five wickets down, and 51 runs ahead, in the final hour. Australia will carry momentum to the second Test in Adelaide after hauling its way back into the match after conceding 2-255 on the opening day and finishing with an aggressive bowling performance.

Australia needs to win the series to wrest the No. 1 ranking away from South Africa. ''The team showed a lot of character after day one,'' Clarke said. ''I wish we had a bit of play on that washout day, but I think the boys deserve a lot of credit for their attitude.''

He admitted he thought about declaring behind but was discouraged by the pitch.

''I thought it was going to be tough if we had to chase 250, 280 on that wicket on the last day,'' he said. ''I thought our best chance of winning, especially with the way Michael Hussey was playing, was scoring quite quickly last night, get a lead, and come out this morning and be as positive as we could, then give ourselves as much time [as possible] in the game to try and take nine wickets.

''Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time, but full credit to the bowlers. It is positive that we were able to get the South African top order out again. Unfortunately, we didn't get a win, but we can certainly use the momentum we take from this game to Adelaide.''

Clarke defined himself as a daring captain when he declared behind the West Indies earlier this year to conjure a win in Barbados, and Lehmann, the Queensland coach, was surprised he didn't take the riskier of the two options this time.

''I reckon we probably should have declared just behind and make them set us a target,'' Lehmann said on SEN.

''We get two bites of the cherry; we can bowl them out cheaply, then and if we have to chase whatever we need, or they get a lead and think they can bowl us out, which I don't think they can, and we get a chance to chase down the runs. I would've liked to declare 100 behind and throw the ball back in their court a little bit. They're the No. 1 side, so let's see how they play when someone plays attacking cricket. No one likes draws.''

Clarke's superb innings was his third double century in 2012 and a world record at the Gabba, surpassing Englishman Alastair Cook's 235 not out two summers ago. He also shared a 228-run stand with Hussey, whose 100 came in just 127 balls.

Clarke later grabbed a one-handed catch at slip to dislodge Jacques Kallis off the bowling of Nathan Lyon, who picked up two wickets after his first two overs were plundered for 26. Soon afterwards, the introduction of Rob Quiney's part-time mediums to the attack signalled a draw was imminent.

South Africa (1st Innings)
G SMITH lbw b Pattinson 10
A PETERSEN c Hussey b Lyon 64
H AMLA lbw b Siddle 104
J KALLIS c Quiney b Pattinson 147
AB de VILLIERS c Warner b Pattinson 40
J RUDOLPH c Quiney b Lyon 31
V PHILANDER c Clarke b Siddle 11
D STEYN c Wade b Hilfenhaus 15
R KLEINVELDT not out 17
M MORKEL c Siddle b Hilfenhaus 0
JP DUMINY (absent hurt) 0
Sundries (1b, 1lb, 3w, 6nb) 11
Total (9 wkts) 450
Fall of wickets: 29 (Smith), 119 (Petersen), 284 (Amla), 374 (Kallis), 377 (de Villiers), 403 (Philander), 426 (Rudolph), 446 (Steyn), 450 (Morkel).
Bowling: B Hilfenhaus 32.4-9-73-2 (1w), J Pattinson 34-6-93-3 (2w 3nb), P Siddle 36-6-111-2 (3nb), N Lyon 37-4-136-2, M Hussey 4-0-21-0, R Quiney 7-3-10-0, M Clarke 1-0-4-0.

Australia (1st Innings)
E COWAN run out (Steyn) 136
D WARNER c Kallis b Steyn 4
R QUINEY c Steyn b Morkel 9
R PONTING c Kallis b Morkel 0
M CLARKE not out 259
M HUSSEY c (sub) b Morkel 100
M WADE not out 19
Sundries (14lb, 1w, 23nb) 38
Total (5 wkts - decl) 565
Fall of wickets: 13 (Warner), 30 (Quiney), 40 (Ponting), 299 (Cowan), 527 (Hussey). Bowling: D Steyn 30-3-129-1 (1nb), V Philander 30-3-103-0 (8nb), M Morkel 31-6-127-3 (2nb), R Kleinveldt 21-1-97-0 (1w 12nb), J Kallis 12-3-30-0, G Smith 9-0-36-0, H Amla 2-0-9-0, A Petersen 3-0-20-0.

South Africa (2nd Innings)
A PETERSEN c Wade b Pattinson 5
G SMITH c Quiney b Pattinson 23
H AMLA c Hussey b Siddle 38
J KALLIS c Clarke b Lyon 49
AB de VILLIERS not out 29
J RUDOLPH lbw b Lyon 11
V PHILANDER not out 1
Sundries (2b, 4w, 4nb) 10
Total (5 wkts - match called off with 11 overs remaining) 166
Fall of wickets: 6 (Petersen), 55 (Smith), 102 (Amla), 129 (Kallis), 165 (Rudolph). Bowling: B Hilfenhaus 15-3-26-0 (1w), J Pattinson 19-3-58-2 (3w 2nb), P Siddle 17-4-36-1 (2nb), N Lyon 13-5-41-2, R Quiney 4-3-3-0.
Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan), Billy Bowden (New Zealand).
Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).
Third Umpire: Richard Kettleborough (England).
Result: Match drawn.
Man of the Match: Michael Clarke
Series: Three-match series level 0-0.