- Updates from the Ageas Bowl, play starts at 11am
- England look to third Test after another day in dark
- Get in touch! Email Adam with your thoughts
The rain has (all-but) stopped! So say my colleagues in the press box. It’ll be a big and long clean up, but there’s a chance of some cricket later today. Giddy up.
“Hello again.” And to you, Ian Forth. “Simple question - how did we end up with the current lbw laws? I’m sure there’s a reason, but it’s all but impossible to work out what it is (for me, anyway). Why does the ball need to pitch in line? Why does it need to hit the pad inside the line? Why do you sometimes need to play a shot and sometimes not? What if we reverted to one criterion only - no reasonable doubt that the ball hit the pad first and would have hit the stumps.”
“Dear Adam.” Dearest Robert Wilson. “My heart soared when I read ‘ The Oval 1968. Local residents turn up with pitchforks.’ I was very disappointed to find that there had not, in fact, been some Hammer horror film intervention I’d missed. When you think about it, it’s the one thing that cricket truly lacks. The final day arrival of terrified and enraged villagers with torches and scythes. Certainly a way to even the odds when you’re facing grotesques and monsters like Shane Warne and Steve Smith. I’d deffo be up for helping them tie up David Warner before the thunderstorm hit. Wouldn’t have worked on Viv Richards though. ‘Cos nothing did.”
I love how your brain works. What interests me when watching back that 1968 final day is how chilled out everyone seems to be as England take the wickets to win.
“Afternoon Mr Collins.” And to you, Damian Clarke.“What a day! I’m twenty miles from The Bowl, and yesterday I salvaged, sealed, and linked three massive old water butts to the drainpipe. Just checked, and they’re already full. Every bucket and tub I possess, plus one old bathtub, full. Yeah, the end of the garden looks like a recycling yard, but I’m set for the inevitable hosepipe ban next week.
After all that effort, all I need is some cricket to listen and chill to. Make it happen, chap.”
Firstly, that’s great work - well done. I have no basis for this other than the screengrab in the tweet I posted before, but I reckon they’ll get on.
Current mood, reports Phil Withall. I hear you. Meanwhile, George in Glasgow is gaming a result in the overs we might have left. “What about England scramble to get the deficit down to 199 when play restarts and then declare in order to make Pakistan bat again and force a result on the final day?” Yes! I love a ‘declare 199 behind’ call, feel like I’m banging the drum for it at least once a year. Indeed, last year during the Women’s Test at Taunton, that (sort of) ended up happening.
I have a confession to make. I’m the one cricketer - indeed, the one cricket journalist - who has never really mastered the art of reading of rain radars. I asked MJ Knoester to help me out and it looks halfway decent for later today.
It seems a bit slower than predicted. This was just now.
The band is moving northwest. Thirty minutes? pic.twitter.com/HJ2rPRLwgA
“Good afternoon, Adam and a belated happy birthday.” Thank you, Ian Forth.“I was musing, faute de mieux, on England and great rain interventions. Here’s a five-for that comes to mind:
1. The Oval 1968. Local residents turn up with pitchforks and Derek Underwood spins a famous victory with 5 wickets in the only hour’s play available on the final evening.
2. Trinidad 1990. The combination of the only black cloud for miles and West Indies’ go-slow secure the hosts a draw.
3. 1992 and Pakistan win the World Cup despite being bowled out for 71 by England in the league phase. Rain intervenes and secures tham a crucial point.
4. Adelaide 2010. The rain holds off just long enough for England to claim the last few wickets on the final morning.
5. Lords 2007. India 9 wickets down and 100 runs short, as Steve Bucknor gives a not out to a plumb appeal from Panesar. Five minutes later the weather means India have the draw and ultimately the series win.”
I’ll throw Hedley Verity into the mix, England bowling Australia out twice in a hurry to win the 1934 Ashes Test at Lord’s, the spinner taking 14 wickets in a day on a sticky. It was also the first Test to be broadcast on radio by the BBC. It’s a wonderful story that Daniel Norcross and I told on episode two of our Calling the Shots audio documentary during lockdown. If the OBO is your thing, this will be too.
There are three rain-free games continuing in the Bob Willis Trophy. Follow that, as always, with Tanya Aldred. I see my guy Ian Holland has 6/39 at Arundel. Remind me to write a long feature on him at some stage over the next few weeks.
Related: County cricket: Notts v Lancashire, Yorks v Derbyshire and more – live!
Sky are back at the ground and the news is vaguely positive. Yes, it’s still raining but there are “encouraging signs” according to Ian Ward, with blue sky on the horizon. The scheduled close will be 7pm with the cut-off adjusted to 7:30pm.
Afternoon, all. Want the bad news or the bad news? I’m sitting about 40 miles from the Rose Bowl and the rain has been torrential for most of the last hour. In saying that, as I look out the window, it’s back to firm drizzle. Yes, that’s how I’m describing it: firm drizzle. I’ve enjoyed Rob’s find about the shortest Test. Of course, there have been games that never got started - famously, the Melbourne Ashes Test of 1971 - and that resulted in the first one-day international a couple of days later. My point: good can come from bad. Right? Let’s chat, I’m here until it’s done.
Well, that’s it from me for today. The forecast is still pretty good from 4-5pm, so it’s not beyond the realms that we’ll get some cricket this evening. Adam Collins will be with you for the rest of the day - you can email him on adam.collins.casual@theguardian.com or tweet @CollinsAdam. Bye!
And here’s some glorious footage of the greatest white-ball bowler we’ve ever seen. Imagine trying to hit that yorker; it’s like trying to bench-press gravity.
Apropos nowt, here’s Aravinda de Silva capturing the heart of every Kent fan in 1995.
I’m trying to recall the last time a Test in England was so badly affected by the weather. The first match that comes to mind is the Lord’s Test against Pakistan in 1987, when only 112.5 overs were bowled across the five days.
We’ve had 96.2 overs so far in this game. Rob Smyth Understands that if it stays like that it will be the shortest ever five-day Test in this country. (There were a few shorter three-day Tests back in the day.) The shortest Test anywhere, excluding the two that were abandoned because of dangerous conditions, was a 72-ball thriller in Kandy in 1993. (When, cricket being cricket, it was sunny and dry on the scheduled rest day.)
“You need to do a bit more delving,” says John Starbuck. “The drones as anti-rain devices idea was well-debated in an OBO of about that time and we concluded there were far too many practical difficulties, with some genuine science added in. Someone will have the exact details, I expect, or you could try your own algorithm.”
Sounds like a perfect way to spend my day off tomorrow.
“Quick question...” says Pete Salmon. “I know captains can agree to call off a match if no result is possible. Can that happen at any time – for instance if we only get a few overs today? Not that I want that, just be interested to know. And do the umpires have a say? I’m sure that no two captains would replicate the West Germany/Austria Nichtangriffspakt von Gijónin the Test match championship and abandon a game at the start, but I’ve been sure about a lot of things which turned out to be bunkum...”
I think the two captains can only call a game off at the start of the final hour, and that the umpires only have a say when the weather is a factor. I’ve checked the playing conditions and now I need some Paracetamol, but I think that’s right.
Weather update It’s still raining.
“Your comments in the third over got me wondering - what’s the lowest first innings for which the follow-on was enforced, resulting in victory without needing to bat again?” asks Peter Mabey.
Since the follow-on bar was raised to 200 runs, I think the lowest score is India’s 288 at Chandigarh in 1990. Their dominance in that match is reflected by Venkatapathy Raju’s match figures: 53.5-38-37-8.
I’m going to grab some lunch but will be back in half an hour or so. You’re not missing anything - it’s still raining.
“On this rain business,” says Digvijay Yadav, “wonder how far along the ECB or CA have come with this.”
Crikey, I hadn’t heard of that. They wouldn’t have the money for it now I guess.
Lunch will be taken at 1pm as scheduled. This is a long-haul shower, and I doubt there will be any play before tea. It does look better from 5pm though.
“Monsieur Smyth,” says Robert Wilson. “Normally, you’re a solid and redoubtable rain-break scribe, a friend to punchline and digression. You quip and quibble, you dip deftly archivewards and produce rabbits and Aces, you merrily concede the absurdity of such a sport (and writing about it too). Your washed-out OBOs are triumphant protests against inconsequence and ennui. But I feel a certain ragged stress in you in this game, a flaw in the diamond of your sunny burble. Has this match/summer/year broken your butterfly upon a wheel? I say go straight to the comfort blanket. It might help us too. If you felt the need to stick your thumb in your mouth and do a couple of dreamy evocations of Martin McCague or Robin Smith, we’d be here for you.”
The perception on you! I have felt quite tired during this game, which might be related to an inability to remember the last day off. But tomorrow is free and I plan to do absolutely nothing except, erm, watch cricket.
“Not related to his dismissal today, but I think Burns won’t be opener come the Ashes,” says Andrew Hurley. “He has had extraordinary luck since he’s in the team (Ashes last year for example) and I’m not convinced by him, at all. I think he’s a chancer.”
I wouldn’t be particularly surprised either way. Experience suggests that at least one of the top three will fall by the wayside in the next 12 months, and you could make a case for any of them. Burns and Sibley have an admirable temperament, but it’s not the greatest time to have an imperfect technique. In many ways Crawley looks the best, though we don’t yet know whether he is as ruthless as the other two, Sibley in particular.
The forecast is pretty good from around 4pm, so we might get a 2-3 hours this evening. I’m not sure there will be much play before then, though, unless the weatherman’s been playing golf again.
(NB: Clip contains bad words.)
The Bob Willis Trophy
There’s plenty of cricket going on elsewhere, and Tanya is keeping several eyes on it.
Related: County cricket: Notts v Lancashire, Yorks v Derbyshire and more – live!
Ach. It’s going to pour down any minute, too, so I suspect that will be it before lunch.
5th over: England 7-1 (Sibley 2, Crawley 5) Sibley has two first-innings ducks already this summer. They’re an occupation hazard for an opener, but three in five Tests isn’t a great look and he’ll be relieved to get off the mark with a work to leg for two. That was the least uncomfortable so far, with Sibley able to leave a few deliveries outside off.
4th over: England 5-1 (Sibley 0, Crawley 5) Crawley is beaten by a jaffa that straightens and flicks the back leg on its way through to Rizwan. After that he starts to walk at Abbas, in an attempt to minimise the LBW threat, and gets a couple more runs with a clip to leg. Good, proactive batting.
“Well I’ll say one thing about this England side, it’s rarely boring watching us play,” weeps Guy Hornsby. “The collapse is ALWAYS on. But you have to bowl well, and I’m not sure I enjoy watching any side bowl more than Pakistan. For the Test cricket purist, they’re leather and willow catnip.”
3rd over: England 3-1 (Sibley 0, Crawley 3) The lights are on, and bad light might save England from a very unpleasant examination. Crawley softens his hands sufficiently to ensure an edge fall off Afridi short of third slip, and then gets the first runs of the innings with a work to leg for three. His reward is to keep the strike for Mohammad Abbas’s next over.
“Morning Rob,” says Brian Withington. “Having deleted a draft email that riffed on how Pakistan had not scored quite enough to enforce a follow on, I am now officially having second thoughts ...”
2nd over: England 0-1 (Sibley 0, Crawley 0) Mohammad Abbas’s first ball kicks nastily to hit Sibley in the ribs. Batting looks fiendishly difficult here, particularly in the first 15-20 balls. A majestic over from Abbas includes consecutive deliveries that beat the outside edge and a strangled shout for LBW. IS IT COWARDLY TO PRAY FOR 36 HOURS OF THUNDERSTORMS.
1st over: England 0-1 (Sibley 0, Crawley 0) A superb first over from Afridi, who has got the ball swinging beautifully back into the right-hander.
Crawley is not out UltraEdge suggests Crawley got a slight inside edge, so we didn’t even get to ball tracking.
0.5 overs: England 0-1 (Sibley 0, Crawley 0) England could be rolled for under 50 here. Crawley survives a huge LBW shout first ball; I reckon it was swinging past leg stump - but Azhar Ali has reviewed.
Rory Burns has gone fourth ball for nought! He was lucky to last that long. Having edged Afridi’s first delivery just short of Shafiq at second slip, he nicked another terrific outswinger three balls later. This one carried nicely to Shafiq, who grabbed it with not inconsiderable glee.
The players are back on the field. Shaheen Shah Afridi will open the bowling to Rory Burns, and I know whose shoes I’d rather be in.
All over. Rizwan tries to turn Broad to leg and gets a big leading edge that loops to Crawley in the covers. That was a fine innings from Rizwan, 72 from 139 balls, and he helped Pakistan add 60 for the last two wickets. I say ‘helped’; he scored 48 of them.
91st over: Pakistan 236-9 (Rizwan 72, Naseem 1) Rizwan continues to wage war on fresh air. He gets hold of one later in the over, slapping Anderson through backward point for four. A single off the last delivery allows him to keep strike. This is becoming a little irksome for England.
90th over: Pakistan 231-9 (Rizwan 67, Naseem 1) Naseem survives a full over from Broad, aided by the fact most of the deliveries were off target.
“I had expected the game to start at 7.30am to make up for lost time and with the introduction of ‘Breakfast’ at 10.30am,” says Ian Copestake. “But no, you’re right, why change what isn’t broke, eh Pep?”
89th over: Pakistan 231-9 (Rizwan 67, Naseem 1) Rizwan charges Anderson again. This time he connects with the ball, slicing it high over gully for four. That aside it was a terrific over from Anderson, including two beautiful deliveries that beat the outside edge. Mohammad Abbas must be salivating at the prospect of bowling on this. I think that’s still allowed.
88th over: Pakistan 225-9 (Rizwan 61, Naseem 1) Stuart Broad will open up at the other end. He’s eyeing another cheap wicket to continue his spectacular form this summer: 25 wickets at 12.88 so far. Since the start of last summer, in fact, he has 73 wickets at 19.87. Rizwan misses another murderous heave before taking a leg bye to give Naseem one ball to survive. He does.
In other news, thanks to Peter Haining for dutifully sending in the TMS link.
87th over: Pakistan 224-9 (Rizwan 61, Naseem 1) Mohammad Rizwan is here for a good time, not a long time. He charges Anderson’s first ball and misses, and is beaten again two balls later. The pitch has been sweating under the covers and Pakistan want to get bowling as soon as possible.
Rizwan calls Naseem Shah through for a very dodgy single off the penultimate delivery, and he is well short of his ground when Crawley’s throw misses the stumps.
The start has been delayed. Not by rain, but because they forgot to put sawdust down. Oh, cricket.
Some people are on the pitch. They think play’s about to start. It is now!
I think we’re going to start at 11am, you know. It’s probably worth a reminder of the match situation: Pakistan are 223 for nine, a decent score in these conditions, with Mohammad Rizwan unbeaten on 60.
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Related: County cricket: Notts v Lancashire, Yorks v Derbyshire and more – live!
At the risk of sounding ungrateful, it’s a bit late now for it to stop raining. We’ll probably get a result if there are two uninterrupted days, as 196 overs is a lot on this pitch. But it’s going to rain again at some stage - 11:00:04 if I’ve read the forecast correctly - so there’s no almost no chance of a positive result. Thanks for nothing, “higher power”.
Pre-match reading
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Hello. We’re in serious danger of getting some cricket this morning. Moving images on Sky Sports News suggest a suspiciously dry Ageas Bowl, with no covers on and people scurrying around in anticipation of an 11am start. Time will tell but for the time being, it’s on!
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