STUMPS
21st over: England 98-1 (Cook 49, Root 23) England pilfer 11 from the final over, bowled by Yasir. That’s it for a successful if slightly frustrating day for England. They lead by 489 with two days remaining and are strong favourites to win this match, though the Manchester weather might be a problem. Thanks for your company, night!
In other news 2 knob heads have walked past my house holding phones doing Pokiemon , what has the world become !! 😳
— andrew flintoff (@flintoff11) July 24, 2016
20th over: England 87-1 (Cook 47, Root 14) Root charges Amir and crashes the ball not far short of mid-on. It’s a quiet end to a subdued day, which will be over in six balls’ time.
“Fear not, Mac Millings!” says Andy Tyacke in Germany. “ I taught all three of my sons during their secondary years with no problems. The second one failed to hand his homework in three times during his first term of secondary and was the first of his intake to get a detention. Guess who put him in! He always said it was the best thing that could have happened at the time: it did wonders for his street cred: the others realised that there were no favours going and he got a certain aura for being a minor criminal. Also he got the message about homework. A couple of weeks later I did the same for the deputy head’s son – who had been getting away with it with some other teachers and he also got the message.” What’s the German for P45?
19th over: England 83-1 (Cook 46, Root 11) Yasir wheels through another over, with Root cuffing a slog-sweep for four. The next ball spits from a length to beat the outside edge. Two overs remaining.
18th over: England 78-1 (Cook 45, Root 7) Root takes one in the stomach after mistiming a pull stroke at Amir. He can play that shot with impunity now. The first innings was business; this is fun. He is beaten next ball, again trying to glide to third man.
“The first question that came to my mind is: what is Millings Jr going to call Sr in class?” wonders Tom Hopkins. “Is the customary ‘Millings’ appropriate?
17th over: England 73-1 (Cook 43, Root 5) Root is selfless at the best of times, never mind when England are pushing for a declaration and he has the warm glow a first-innings 254, so you’d expect him to get on with it.
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16th over: England 72-1 (Cook 42, Root 4) Root often the face to steer his first ball for four.
“The sitcom is from my son’s point of view,” writes Mac Millings. “It’s called ‘Breaking Dad’.”
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WICKET! England 68-1 (Hales c Sarfraz b Amir 24)
Hales walks on a caught-behind. It was a good delivery from Amir that came back to take the inside-edge on its way through to Sarfraz. It bounced a bit too The inside-edge wasn’t clear on the first replay but I assume there was one, given that Hales walked.
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15th over: England 67-0 (Cook 41, Hales 24) Yasir half-stops Cook’s straight drive, which helps keep him to a single. There’s a gentle LBW shout when Hales misses a sweep; he was outside the line.
“To follow through on wicketkeeper evolution, you’d end up with a large, mature version of Paul the Octopus,” says John Starbuck. “Not only would he be able to reach the ball from just about all positions, he could forecast where it’s going to be. It’s been said (Cricinfo) of Sobers at leg-slip that he couldn’t see the ball but, knowing the pitch, the bowler and the way the batsman was playing just then, he moved to a point where he crouched and left his hand of the grass, whereupon the ball landed there. You don’t see coaches telling the kids about that.” Or about Garry’s Special Gatorade.
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14th over: England 64-0 (Cook 39, Hales 23) Amir at the other end; three from the over. “Darts score?” says Richard Gibbs. “Believe it finished 1-1, penalties currently being taken. Darts? FFS.”
Any translators out there?
13th over: England 61-0 (Cook 36, Hales 23) There are 8.4 overs remaining in the day. Yasir bowls the .4, the first of which is swept for four by Cook. He has 36 from 31 balls.
No follow on is hardly science @SkyCricket @jimmy9 has come back from injury,bowlers get more rest and pitch gets worse but keep banging on💤
— andrew flintoff (@flintoff11) July 24, 2016
Play will restart at 6.45pm. PLEASE DON’T TELL ME THE DARTS SCORE.
“Is Ian Bell totally out of the picture now?” asks Alex McGillivray. “And with keepers being more athletic these days, how long before first slip position is absorbed into a keeper’s expected range?”
I assume they think Bell’s eyes have gone. I believe they cited experience when they selected Ballance, which sends that’s it for Bell. I have seen him much his season so can’t really comment, but in principle I’d be loath to rule him out. He’ll only be 35 for the next Ashes. Funny how it’s now Australia who have no qualms about picking the older players.
As for the keeping, I suppose there’s only so far you can reach however athletic you are, so I doubt it’ll change much unless Mohammad Irfan becomes a keeper and starts a trend of 7ft glovemen.
There was a proposed restart at 6.35pm, but not it’s raining again. On it goes, this thing of ours.
RAIN STOPS PLAY
12.3 overs: England 55-0 (Cook 31, Hales 23) Ach, it’s raining again and the players are going off.That might be it for the day. Play needs to resume by 7pm.
12nd over: England 55-0 (Cook 31, Hales 22) It’s just a hunch, but I reckon Sir Ian Botham thinks England should declare. “2208 Tests there have been, and nobody has ever made this many to win a Test. Wouldn’t you want to be bowling in these conditions?” Cook brings up the fifty partnership with a very good cover-drive for four off Amir, and then edges a slower ball just short of slip. He has 31 from 28 balls, Hales 22 fae 44.
“Millings Family Values - a heart-warming light horror drama,” offers John Starbuck.
11st over: England 48-0 (Cook 25, Hales 21) With Wahab off the field, Yasir Shah has to come into the attack as early as the 11th over. Hales rocks back to belabour his first delivery down the ground for four, a nice statement of intent. Seven from the over, which makes it 19 from the last two. England might be looking at a declaration tonight, depending on the weather.
10th over: England 41-0 (Cook 24, Hales 15) Cook almost chops Rahat back onto his stumps but instead gets four to fine leg. The next ball jags back to hit the pad and prompt a big LBW appeal that is turned down by Rahat Ali. Misbah decides not to review. It looked a bit high, and replays show it was a bit high – it would have trimmed the bails but that means umpire’s call and therefore the decision would not have been overturned on review. It’s an expensive over, 12 from it after Cook creams a pull to the boundary off the last delivery.
“As entertaining as Mac’s sitcom sounds,” says David Hopkins, “I fear it will morph into a dark brooding Scandinavian drama replete with homicide and knitwear - The Milling.”
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9th over: England 26-0 (Cook 16, Hales 12) Cook drives Amir for three; he has raced to 16 from 18 balls. England’s actual ODI opener, Hales, has 12 from 36 balls. The weather looks okay, so I suspect I’ll miss the start of the darts again play will be okay to continue until 7.30pm.
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8th over: England 26-0 (Cook 13, Hales 12) Oof, that should have been the end of Hales. He chased a wide, shortish delivery from Rahat and edged it towards first slip, where the crouching Hafeez reacted arthritically as the ball flew past him for four. England lead by 417.
7th over: England 22-0 (Cook 14, Hales 8) That’s a nice stroke from Hales, who forces Amir behind square on the off side for four. In his three Test series Hales has averaged 17, 59 and now 13. He’s not under pressure yet but he knows he needs to really trouble the scorers sooner rather than later.
6th over: England 16-0 (Cook 13, Hales 3) Four singles from Rahat’s over. It’s all a bit low-key at the moment. It feels like we are coming towards the end of the day, but there will be 20 more overs tonight if the weather holds.
“Afternoon Rob,” says Phil Sawyer. “Presumably the sitcom would be called Millings Crossing?” Heh, very good. It’s either that or Weep.
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5th over: England 12-0 (Cook 10, Hales 2) A superb bit of analysis from Mikey Holding on Sky, who demonstrates that Hales is no longer planting his front leg before the ball is bowled as he did in the first innings. It’s a work in progress, and Holding demonstrates the greater flexibility of someone like Joe Root, but it’s good to see Hales doing things like this. If he doesn’t crack Test cricket, it won’t be for the want of trying or hard work. He plays out a maiden from Amir.
“‘It’s probably not treason to surmise that if England had known this would happen, they would have enforced the follow-on,’” says Adam Roberts, quoting an earlier entry. “It rained this morning; this is Manchester. I’m assuming someone in this management set-up has been to Manchester before. No, I’m not letting this go. Doh!”
I take your point, but with your logic, sales of barbecues in Manchester would fall to zero. So would sales of of string vests. More to the point, who cares? They will win either way.
4th over: England 12-0 (Cook 10, Hales 2) Almost a run-out from the second ball. Cook, more than halfway down the pitch, is sent back by Hales and makes his ground just before the throw hits the stumps at the non-striker’s end.
Play will resume at 5.40pm! It will it will it will.
“Has Mr Truman (3rd over) checked with the new Mrs Truman about her feelings on cricket?” writes somebody nameless. “Just thinking about the long game here.”
“You want to hear about mental disintegration?” says Mac Millings, scrubbing his thighs with zeal. “This coming school year, for the first time, my eldest son will be a student in my classroom. Is it wrong that I’ve spent the whole summer planning his in-class, year-long humiliation? (Answer: No.)”
That’s a real-life sitcom, with oodles of added misery.
“England’s five bowlers sent down 39.4 overs between them today, with rain breaks in addition to lunch,” writes Dan Lucas. “Resting them is, frankly, bullshit.”
Obviously you’re not a golfer biomechanist.
“Do you think England will declare and have a go at Pakistan tonight?” asked Phil White just before it started raining. No. “Presumably that was the plan when they declared. But I can’t see Pakistan bowling more than 12 overs an hour, so not a lot of time to get 100 and have a decent bowl. Can’t see them changing the batting order, and if I was Vince or Ballance I wouldn’t relish coming in in these circumstances - time to fail, but not enough time to make a big score.”
I would tell them that any low score will not count against them in any way, and that they should swing and have fun. Easier to say that, of course.
RAIN STOPS PLAY
4th over: England 11-0 (Cook 9, Hales 2) Wahab Riaz is off the field, having taken a blow on the arm during his jaunty innings, so Pakistan are down to three bowlers. After Cook is beaten outside off stump, the players leave the field against because of rain. It looks quite grim this time. It’s probably not treason to surmise that if England had known this would happen, they would have enforced the follow-on.
“I agree with the idea of a rotation policy,” says John Starbuck, diligently lining up the ‘but’, “but you omitted one really important element: the nature of the opposition. At the very basic level, how many right- or left-handed batsmen do they have? We’ve seen this angle come into play in the current team, in favour of Moeen Ali using the off-side rough.” Yes, good point, and also the quality. You can take more calculated risks with rotation at home to weaker sides.
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3rd over: England 11-0 (Cook 9, Hales 2) The lights are on and these are good bowling conditions. Pakistan will want to further undermine Hales, Ballance and Vince this evening. Mohammad Amir has two remaining deliveries in his second over, both of which are left outside off by Hales.
“I’m jetting off on honeymoon in a few hours and just discovered my (I mean our) stay in Kandy coincides with SL/Aus,” says Ian Truman. “Do any OBOers know how easy it is to get tickets on the door over in Sri Lanka? And which set of supporters should we sit with?” I think you’ll be okay getting in.
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Play will resume at 4.55pm.
“As I see it, batting again is a no-win for England,” says Adam Roberts. “It brings the draw into play knowing the Manchester weather. You can damage the confidence of Hales, Vince ect ect. You can boost the confidence of the Pakistanis. Or you can win by an innings. There’s cloud cover - Let our English bowlers have a go at them. And even if England do have to bat again, it will be a very low total.”
You’re not looking at the whole pie Adam. What if Hales or Vince get a run a ball 80 or Amir gets a fatigue injury? What if England bowled again and Pakistan batted 180 overs in the second innings and Anderson got injured? I would have enforced the follow-on as well, but the Cook approach was often used by both Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke so I don’t think it’s as clear-cut as people are making out.
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“To the discussion about Finn returning to form from much earlier. Currently, as stated there, you can’t really drop either Woakes or Stokes to make way for Finn,” says David Keech. “However as that gives England the luxury of both a bowler who bats (Woakes) and a batter who bowls (Stokes) they could drop either Vince or Ballance and add Finn. This would give them five seamers, unprecedented I know, but could be interesting for Edgbaston. Alternatively they could include Finn for Anderson and give him time to recover full fitness for India, where he will be most needed. What does everybody think?”
Five seamers is surely too many. I think you can - and they will - drop a batsman for a second spinner in India, but that’s different. I just think the idea of a first XI is a bit antiquated now. At the moment Woakes deserves to be ahead of Finn; six months ago Finn bowled like a monster in South Africa and Woakes looked out of his depth.
I wouldn’t consider omitting Anderson in this series, and not just because it would be a political nightmare. I would have a few core players - Cook, Root, Stokes, Anderson, Broad, ideally the keeper - and gently rotate the rest based on form, fatigue and conditions. That will undoubtedly happen in the future, so why not get a headstart on everyone else?
Actual update Ah, there will be an inspection at 4.45pm.
Update No news is bad news.
“Is total mental disintegration,” begins Alex Netherton, “the reason why you’ve been imposed upon us again?”
If I wanted a comment from you mate it’d be about Phil Brown.
Play should be resuming right about now. It isn’t, because it’s raining, so I’ve no idea when we’ll have more cricket.
“Good Morning Robert,” says Adam Roberts. “My flabber was well and truly gasted when A Cook didn’t enforce the follow-on. It took 2.4 overs for my fears to be realised. What was he thinking? Set up Hales for another failure? Just drop him if that’s how you feel?”
I don’t agree with it but I can understand why they batted again. That’s what the Mental Disintegration Handbook suggests you should do in such circumstances; to “cook ‘em a bit longer”, as Mitchell Johnson put it during the Adelaide Test of 2013-14.
Hello again. This will, weather permitting, be a marathon final session - three hours ten minutes I think. Such sessions always trigger happy, happy memories of the longest session in Test history: four hours of Headley-inspired Ashes bliss at the MCG in 1998-99.
After which, Rob Smyth will guide you to the close.
It’s tea.
Update: in one minute’s time, it’ll be tea.
It is not yet tea, to avoid too long a final session. This takes time out of the game, as we’re already committed to the maximum; it’s happening.
3rd over: England11-0 (Cook 9, Hales 2) Amir gets a shy at Hales, and it starts raining, and what in pain in posterior this is.
2nd over: England11-0 (Cook 9, Hales 2) Hales dabs Rahat into off-side as we see Wahab icing his elbow in the changing room; it was an external blow, so when he’s good to go he can go. Meantime, another short one is easily sent to the point fence for four by Cook and two further singles follow.
“In a minority I know, but think its good call,” tweets Phil Russell. “All about managing bowler workload. Keeps them fresher for rest of series. Plenty of time to win, even with rain. Better batting from Pakistan could keep them out there a while 2nd time around.”
Yep, I get all of that - and would add putting more overs into the Pakistani bowlers. But my inclination would always be to get it won as quickly as possible.
1st over: England 4-0 (Cook 4, Hales 0) Warne does not agree with England’s behaviours; Hussain ventures that perhaps they want to give Vince and Ballance another shot. And Hales, so effective against Sri Lanka, could use a knock too; he’s looked slightly out of his depth against this attack, though given a very small sample size. Anyway, Amir opens and Cook’s off the mark with a clouting square-drive to the rope before a fuller one induces a half-batter than bounces before slip.
Right, we’re ready to go again.
I mean, I know this is what England do, and I know they’ll probably win whatever, and I know the bowlers could use a rest, and I know they wouldn’t mind putting more overs into Pakistani legs, and I know the pitch will deteriorate. But really, this is a curious one.
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England will bat again, with a lead of 391.
Er, ok.
WICKET! Wahab Riaz c Hales b Ali 39 (Pakistan 198 all out)
Wahab, becalmed after two dots, mows Moeen and gets plenty of it - just not enough, picking out Hales on the midwicket fence.
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64th over: Pakistan 198-9 (Wahab 39, Amir 6) Moeen wheels away again and Wahab miscues an overpitched one - Hales dives but can’t get there. Then Wahab misses a quicker one, before bumping into the off-side.
63rd over: Pakistan 195-9 (Wahab 39, Amir 6) Afternoon everyone. Ben Stokes charges in, obviously, hurling down a bouncer at Amir, who ducks keeping his bat low. Then, another back-of-a-length delivery is played down into the off-side very nicely, giving him his first boundary. Apparently, Cook has indicated to Hales that England will bat again; if he’d not mind indicating to what end, that’d be very much appreciated.
62nd over: Pakistan 189-9 (Wahab 38, Amir 1) Wahab could never be tried in a court of law for not living life to the max: he smears back over his head for four and then hits an outrageous reverse-sweep over cover for a one-bounce four. He charges the next ball, dragging it into Ballance at short leg. Do short legs wear a box? If they don’t, Gary Ballance is a very tough man. Right, that’s all from me for now, Daniel Harris will be with you until tea.
61st over: Pakistan 179-9 (Wahab 29, Amir 0) An inside-edge saves Wahab from being plumb LBW to Stokes. Another maiden.
60th over: Pakistan 179-9 (Wahab 29, Amir 0) That was the last ball of the over.
WICKET! Pakistan 179-9 (Misbah c Cook b Moeen 52)
Moeen gets Misbah for the second consecutive innings! Misbah tried to sweep but top-edged the stroke towards short fine leg, where Cook ran round to take a comfortable two-handed catch above his head. That’s really good from Moeen, who has now looked the beast in the eye twice without blinking.
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59th over: Pakistan 177-8 (Misbah 51, Wahab 28) This relatively flat period shows how well England bowled earlier in the innings, as it’s still a very good pitch.
“Greetings from an almost warm Nairobi,” says Robert Darby. “I think it is time to put the kibosh on Pakistan’s innings, so here goes. Is it too soon to start talking about them saving the follow on?” They need another 213 runs, or around 15 overs of Moeen to Misbah.
58th over: Pakistan 176-8 (Misbah 50, Wahab 28) Misbah steals a second run to bring up an excellent fifty partnership, and then sweeps a single to reach his own fifty. That’s a terrific innings, from 107 balls with four fours. Wahab celebrates on his captain’s behalf by mauling Moeen for six to cow corner. He gave that some humpty.
57th over: Pakistan 167-8 (Misbah 47, Wahab 22) Wahab turns his back on a delivery from Woakes that hits him on the top of the arm guard. He has a bit of treatment, and he doesn’t look particularly comfortable. The physio applies some strapping and he continues, sensibly getting off strike with a quick single. That puts Misbah on strike, and he’s dropped by Vince at third slip! He opened his the face to glide Woakes to third man but played it a bit too fine. Vince got down smartly to his right but couldn’t hold on to an extremely difficult chance. At least I think it was a chance; it may have arrived on the half-volley.
“Afternoon Rob,” says Tom Hopkins. “I was asked last week whether Tegan and Sara are mainstream. Any thoughts? I wasn’t even sure whether that’s an absolute term, or whether to compare them with, say, The Long Blondes or Taylor Swift, where’s the cut off?” Look Tom, I just can’t. I have no idea how you judge these things in a digital world. And I’m slightly out of touch with the hit parade. I’ve heard of the Long Blondes but who’s Taylor Swift?
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56th over: Pakistan 163-8 (Misbah 44, Wahab 21) Alastair Cook, possibly out of boredom, has decided to feed Moeen Ali to Misbah. It’ll probably be an expensive mode but it’s a worthwhile gamble with such a huge lead. Misbah doesn’t bother with a sighter, wearily plonking his back leg to the first delivery before reverse sweeping past slip for four. Four singles make it a good over for Pakistan, and this is now the highest partnership of the innings. They’ve added 44.
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55th over: Pakistan 155-8 (Misbah 38, Wahab 19) “With so much focus on the swash and buckle of Stokes in the last two years, Chris Woakes’ quiet, determined transformation from much-maligned England fledgling to a bona-fide matchwinner has been the feelgood story of 2016,” says Guy Hornsby, who must have missed 60 Days In. “I, like many others, didn’t really know what the selectors saw in him in his first few tests, but this is the tastiest slice of humble pie I’ve eaten since I didn’t think Matthew Hoggard was up to much. We now have two genuine all-rounders. You wait for a bus....”
It has certainly been a victory for experts over gobshites. (Not that I’m calling you the latter, I wasn’t sure about him either. I was thinking more of tweets like this.) This is obviously a purple patch but, as rotation becomes the norm, he should at the very least be around the squad for the next 4-5 years.
54th over: Pakistan 152-8 (Misbah 36, Wahab 18) An outrageous lifter from Stokes bursts from a length past Wahab’s outside edge and almost clears the leaping Bairstow. When Stokes is bowling the pitch is playing like it’s had a Red Bull shower, and the over ends with Wahab again edging on the bounce to slip.
53rd over: Pakistan 151-8 (Misbah 35, Wahab 18) Wahab skids forward to a full, wide delivery from Woakes and slices it along the ground for four. Later in the over, Misbah clunks Woakes straight back over his head for three more. Pakistan are still 438 behind but this partnership should make the top-order batsmen believe they can get proper runs in the second innings.
52nd over: Pakistan 142-8 (Misbah 32, Wahab 12) Stokes continues to harass Wahab, who thick-edges another lifter this far short of Vince at third slip. It’s been a really good spell, which Wahab has survived through equal portions of luck and courage. Meanwhile, at Canterbury...
51st over: Pakistan 141-8 (Misbah 31, Wahab 12) Misbah flashes a back-cut under the diving Stokes at gully for four. “There’s been a meme going around saying that if you have friend who wakes from a year-long coma and you have to explain what has happened in 2016 you should start with Leicester winning the Premier League by 10 points and work up from there,” says Pete Salmon. “I think mentioning that Woakes is England’s best cricketer might be quite a long way into the conversation don’t you?”
50th over: Pakistan 134-8 (Misbah 27, Wahab 10) Wahab thick-edges Stokes through the vacant fourth-slip area for four. The next ball is a vicious lifter that beats the outside edge, as does the next. Stokes is getting the ball to really zip off this pitch.
“A bit harsh to call Anderson a bully (48th over),” says John Starbuck. “You’d imagine Autocorrect would come, if not with a cricket-based model, at least some learning capacity, like plenty of other software does.”
Ach, my mistake; I’ve got darts on the brain.
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49th over: Pakistan 130-8 (Misbah 27, Wahab 6) If England were 250 ahead I’m not sure Cook would enforce the follow on, but with a lead of 463 and a five-man attack there is no real reason not to do so. Misbah reduces that lead to 459 with a blazing square-driven boundary off Woakes.
48th over: Pakistan 126-8 (Misbah 23, Wahab 6) Stokes’s numbers – 33 and 37 – are nowhere near as good as Woakes’, which tells a few stories. He almost had a third wicket then, with Wahab fencing a nasty lifter in the gap between gully and third slip. Anderson at bully flew to his left but it went past him for four.
47th over: Pakistan 122-8 (Misbah 23, Wahab 2) At the start of the summer, Chris Woakes’ Test bowling average was 64. Ten days ago it was 41; now it’s 26 and falling, and he’s one away from a third consecutive five-for. The last Englishman to do that was Gus Fraser during his Indian summer of 1998. Woakes bowls a maiden to Misbah, who is batting time in the hope that an apocalypse tomorrow might save the game for Pakistan.
46th over: Pakistan 122-8 (Misbah 23, Wahab 2) Misbah shows no inclination to farm the strike, working Stokes’ second ball for a single. Hardly seems worth it when you are almost 500 behind. Wahab gets off the mark with a flick for two.
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45th over: Pakistan 119-8 (Misbah 22, Wahab 0) Chris Woakes has one ball of his tenth over remaining, and it’s defended by the new batsman Wahab.
Hello folks. England have shown significant roarbackability in this game, an admirable response to the excessive criticism they received after Lord’s. As Daniel said, it’s hard to see how they don’t win comfortably from here.
It’s very hard to conceive of a circumstance that doesn’t have England winning this Test sometime tomorrow - these bowlers and these conditions have made mugs of better batsmen than these. But you never know, and either way, Rob Smyth will be with you for the start of the afternoon session.
WICKET! Shah c Root b Woakes 1 (Pakistan 119-8)
What a morning for England! What a fortnight for Chris Woakes! What a life for Joe Root! Presumably waiting for a seriously short one, when it was merely back of a length, Shah didn’t really know what to do so fenced to Root, who took his fourth catch of the innings with mortifying ease.
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45th over: Pakistan 119-7 (Misbah 22, Yasir 1) Woakes has two men out on the hook, but his first ball is full and dug out by Misbah. But the second is a right venomous so-and-so, forcing him to take eyes off it, and the glove bears first impact before the guard is separated from its moorings; well bowled. Misbah is ready for another short one, but it’s full, and then the batsmen dash through for a single; Broad’s throw hits the stumps at the non-striker’s, but Misbah was well in.
44th over: Pakistan 118-7 (Misbah 21, Yasir 1) A single to Misbah gives Stokes five balls at Yasir - wonder how his chin’s feeling, because it’s going to get some attention, one feels. And sure enough, there’s a bumper, a bit too high, and another one. Shah then handles the fuller one well, shoving it away into the leg-side, and then a better, fuller one - 87mph too - which Shah drives at, slicing towards mid-off. This next over will likely be the last before lunch.
43rd over: Pakistan 117-7 (Misbah 20, Yasir 1) Woakes tries Yasir with a shorter one which he fends off his hip, then another one shmices him on the glove. But nudge through midwicket gets Misbah the strike and he adds three with a push down the ground.
WATCH: Pace&bounce from @benstokes38 as Sarfraz (26) edges to Root. PAK 112-7, trail by 477: https://t.co/XbFzNuRrnw https://t.co/u1WFJUT9kQ
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 24, 2016
42nd over: Pakistan 112-7 (Misbah 16, Yasir 0) England are into the bowlers and Stokes is into this, absolutely battering in. But Yasir handles him well enough, playing out a wicket-maiden.
WICKET! Sarfraz c Root b Stokes 12 (Pakistan 112-7)
Knack strikes again! Sarfraz fences at one that’s back of a length and zips off the pitch, but that he might have left, and off he pops.
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42nd over: Pakistan 112-6 (Misbah 16, Sarfraz 26) Sarfraz leans into Stokes’ first ball to take four down to the point fence.
41st over: Pakistan 108-6 (Misbah 16, Sarfraz 22) Woakes is running in hard but it’s not happening for him at the moment. Sarfraz takes him for three to mid-on and then Misbah drives through cover to get Anderson diving to save the boundary; they run three more. Sarfraz has made a huge difference.
40th over: Pakistan 101-6 (Misbah 12, Sarfraz 18) Stokes on and his second ball is nairstee, back of a length, kicking, and taking the splice but not finding a fielder. And another good ball then has Misbah feeling the need to pull, not getting much of it but running two, before a full one draws a solid defensive shot. Good over.
39th over: Pakistan 99-6 (Misbah 11, Sarfraz 18) And here’s Woakesy! He begins with both peach and jaffa, full of length and nipping away from Misbah as he propped forward. But he nurdles the next ball into the leg-side to ROtate the strike (yes, Warne is back in commentary). And Sarfraz isn’t missing out when he gets a wide one, well out of his crease and perfect position to cream it to the point fence; he’s not going to hang about. Two more come next ball, too, then a straight one that’s flipped around the corner for four down to fine-leg.
38th over: Pakistan 88-6 (Misbah 10, Sarfraz 8) Woakes has just nipped off, so perhaps will be into the attack sooner rather than later, but in the meantime, Broad continues. Whos’ not at all chuffed when Sarfraz jabs away square on the off-side and Hales allows it through for a boundary; nowadays, I believe they call it #greatbantz.
37th over: Pakistan 84-6 (Misbah 10, Sarfraz 4) Anderson resumes, five dots increasing the pressure, but this time Misbah finds a release shot, square-driving a wide one to the fence. That his first boundary, and it came from the 47th ball that he faced.
36th over: Pakistan 80-6 (Misbah 6, Sarfraz 4) First ball, Sarfraz chucks everything at a wide one and toe-edges - it drops short of first slip, and Bairstow, diving across, can’t get it either. Broad’s steaming in here, and when another bounces high, Sarfraz rises with it, flashing over point for four.
“I’ve always felt that two an over is fine in situations like this as long as they’re both singles and not one four in 12 balls,” tweets Gary Naylor. And yep, agreed.
WICKET! Shafiq c Hales b Broad 4 (Pakistan 76-6)
And after all that, he’s given it away, just as Branderson always knew they would. Shafiq gets down on one knee to drive a cutter, doesn’t get all of it, and balloons a catch to Hales at backward point.
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35th over: Pakistan 76-5 (Misbah 6, Shafiq 4) Don’t think England will mind Pakistan batting to stay at the crease and Nasser agrees; case closed m’lud. It’s a difficult one, because there aren’t going be many loose balls to hit, but on the other hand, it makes no sense to give it away. Anderson then strays, though, after Misbah gets one for a defensive push, and Shafiq turns him off his pads for a further single.
34th over: Pakistan 74-5 (Misbah 5, Shafiq 3) Shafiq has a wild swing at Broad’s first ball, missing by plenty, but is solid thereafter. He knows what he’s doing and does it well.
33rd over: Pakistan 74-5 (Misbah 5, Shafiq 3) Anderson is on the money straight away, Shafiq following, withdrawing and edging with soft hands. It’s a good test for him, this, a great bowler in helpfulish conditions, and he eventually gets off the mark from his twelfth ball, swiping to long-off for three - Broad chases and saves the boundary with a dive.
32nd over: Pakistan 71-5 (Misbah 5, Shafiq 0) Broad’s in and Misbah plays his first ball down into the off-side. And his fifth ball is a goodun, bouncing high and donkey-biting Misbah on the inner thigh; he wears it well and is well forward to the sixth. Maiden.
And out come the teams.
In their last 26 bowling innings in home Tests (since Aug 2014), England have had the opposition 5 down for under 100 on 13 occasions.
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) July 24, 2016
Oh yes!
Here's the 2nd wicket to fall today as @finnysteve takes a great caught & bowled to see off Kent Skipper Northeast pic.twitter.com/SNBhPCFbxT
— Middlesex Cricket (@Middlesex_CCC) July 24, 2016
Right, lunch has been pushed back to 1.30pm BST.
Coming to the cricket today? Keep your wits about you 😂😂 https://t.co/3Huff27Lx3
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 24, 2016
WATCH: @jimmy9's 455th Test wicket as Masood (39) edges to Root. PAK 71-5: https://t.co/XbFzNuRrnw #ENGvPAK https://t.co/89jvCX2PBj
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 24, 2016
We shall restart at 12.30 BST, or in 24 minutes’ time.
So, it’s stopped raining, which means all we need to do is get the covers and get on. “We” in the loosest possible sense.
And one more, the first hour of which is an absolute lesson in film-making.
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“Commando has better lines than any film, surely” tweets Dan Lucas.
And another, that I know has been cannibalised and desecrated but remains an absolute belter, a perfect example of someone chucking all they’ve got at their debut and it working.
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Are people still going on about the press-up celebration? Were England seriously mithered by it? Surely not.
In the Royal London Cup, Worcestershire are fighting back against Warwickshire - they’ve moved from 19-6 to 24-6. Rikki Clarke has 5-18.
“Quotable movies? Dude - The Big Lebowski. But that’s just, like, my opinion, man,” chides Benjamin Hendy.
Yes, I’d agree with that - apologies one and all. And also Boyz n’ the Hood - regarding which, this untold story of is great.
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Oh good.
@DanielHarris Heavy rain in Crosby now, so expect it over OT in the near future.
— Paul (@PaulOnBooks) July 24, 2016
It’s still raining, but not hard.
“Bring on the dibby-dobbers!’ emails Ian Copestake.
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“It depends on the kind of trainer you have in mind,” reckons John Starbuck. “The standard type with laces, no, unless you wish to be pathetically rebellious; the slip-on type (Prada style) yes, you can get away with them, especially if they are the kind which takes boot polish.”
The ones you reference are never a trainer, but it’s more to do with comfort than rebellion. Though, why need there ever be a need to wear a syoot?
Tricky one, this: Finn is a potential world-beater, but on the other hand, Stokes needed to come back in and Woakes was undroppable.
Finn is at it again this morning. Bowling as well as I've seen him bowl in a long time. Bowled himself into form in the Test & dropped.
— Kevin Patrick Hand (@KevinHandBBC) July 24, 2016
On the plus side, it doesn’t look like it’s “set-in” or any other such appalling phrase. We’ll be back within the half-hour, I shouldn’t wonder.
@DanielHarris Ah, if only that had been Brood bowling :) pic.twitter.com/F1dzfm2pQr
— Paul (@PaulOnBooks) July 24, 2016
Botheration. “It’s been raining in Liverpool this morning and that juice has started to fall here.” says Athers. The players depart.
31st over: Pakistan 71-5 (Misbah 5, Shafiq 0) Anderson has bowled beautifully this morning, or Anderson has bowled this morning as I could’ve typed to save my fingers an extraneous word. Lights are on at OT, and the clouds zoning in from Liverpool way do not look at all friendly. Another maiden.
30th over: Pakistan 71-5 (Misbah 5, Shafiq 0) Broad hasn’t bowled as well as Anderson this morning, which, I guess, puts him in company with more than seven billion others. But he beats Misbah with his final delivery, which nips in and raps the thigh. There’s an appeal, and incredibly, Broad thinks it’s out. Cook thinks otherwise, and indeed there was an edge. Maiden.
“‘Is it ever acceptable to wear trainers with a syoot?’” tweets Gary Naylor. “Two words - Chevy Chase. Two more - Phil Collins. One more - No.”
But trainers are just so much better than shoes. And I don’t mean shoes or espadrilles masquerading as trainers, I’m talking about a serious, proper trainer.
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29th over: Pakistan 71-5 (Misbah 5, Shafiq 0) Immediately, Anderson spirits one by Shafiq’s outside edge, and it’ll be interesting to see how he copes with the extra pace and bounce in this pitch.
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WICKET! Masood c Rood b Anderson 39 (Pakistan 71-5)
This one gets big on Masood and he can’t help but follow it, guiding a comfortable catch into the hands of a giggling Root, hip-height and at second slip.
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29th over: Pakistan 71-4 (Misbah 5, Masood 39) Anderson strays onto Masood’s pads and is duly turned down to midwicket for four; England have four slips in now.
28th over: Pakistan 67-4 (Misbah 5, Masood 35) Stuart Broad’s books look a lot like the original Nike Air 180s, “sneakerheads” will no doubt have noticed, when taking time off from calling people “dude”. On which point, a question for the fashionistas among us: is it ever acceptable to wear trainers with a syoot? And if so, when and why? One off the over, it’s final delivery swinging and jumping like nobody’s business.
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27th over: Pakistan 66-4 (Misbah 5, Masood 34) Anderson’s first delivery is a beaut, on a length and leaving Misbah off the seam, missing his edge; he smiles. And well he might, because keeping his bat out of the road there required no little skill. Another maiden.
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26th over: Pakistan 66-4 (Misbah 5, Massod 34) It’s Broad, not Woakes, and his first ball goes past Misbah’s outside-edge - but he overstepped. He grooves himself thereafter but, finding a full length and decent carry without being especially threatening, and then Misbah turns the final delivery to mid-on, sets off, and Moeen field well the shies - it’s a good effort, too, but misses and Misbah was home anyhow.
25th over: Pakistan 64-4 (Misbah 4, Masood 34) Misbah drops hands on Anderson’s loosener, well-fielded in the gully, and then clips two to midwicket and a single to backward-square-leg. Immediately, Anderson’s around the wicket to Masood, and there seems to be a bit of swing for him, before an edge bounces just in front of Vince at third slip - he gets a hand to it - but it goes for four nonetheless. Productive over.
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Jimmy Anderson is marking out his run...
Here come the chaps.
There are many better films out there than Withnail, but are there any with better lines? Pulp Fiction is the only one I can think of that comes close.
“I hope Gary’s red was a Margaux”, emails Ian Copestake. 53, no doubt.
Back to spin bowling, here’s Rob Smyth on why England should be picking Rashid ahead of Moeen.
“I avoid drinking wine from the bottle,” admits Gary Naylor, “although I had red in one hand and white in the other for Withnail and I at the Scala.”
Real men were on lighter fuel.
I appear to have misheard - it’s Saqlain Mushtaq, owner of the world’s best twitter biography.
Mushtaq Ahmed is coming on telly. Accordingly:
“Sake? At this time of the day?” pre-empts @HappyInWaders. “Surely vodka is the drink for the morning session?”
At Lord’s last summer, the chap in front of me was drinking wine directly from the bottle at start of play. A management consultant might call it “cutting out the middle man”.
Saké
Sake 2.
England huddle up on day 3 as light rain falls in Manchester. Fingers crossed it clears up for 11am start #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/UjE6JsHTIT
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 24, 2016
Sake.
Heavy drops of rain on way to ground.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) July 24, 2016
Preamble
We all enjoy pontificating and rhapsodising about the ability of Pakistan to do amazing things from improbable situations, because that’s what we and they do. But that’s not easy this morning, for they are in a circumstance: 532 runs behind, not a huge amount of batting left, and a handy, fresh attack. Ah.
So, it would not be at all surprising to see Alastair Cook faced with a decision at some point later today: to enforce or not to enforce. Naturally conservative, he’d probably prefer another swipe, but the rain forecast for tomorrow and Tuesday might force greater enterprise.
But then it’s at least equally likely that Misbah plays another innings in defiance of age, physics and the cosmos, saving the game and marking his sextuple century with a set of chin-ups performed off the roof of the pavilion...
Start of play: 11am BST
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