Key events
Righto, the ground staff are coming out to begin a clear up operation so progress of sorts. The official word is there will be a further inspection at 1:45pm provided there is no further rain. The radar doesn’t look great for the next two hours actually but then clears right up for later in the afternoon. Cross those fingers and tootsies.
The umpires wander out for a look at conditions out in the middle accompanied by a couple of members of the ground staff. It isn’t raining currently and hasn’t been for a little while. Kiwi ump Chris Gaffaney is using his umbrella as a pointing stick as they do a tour of the outfield…
There’s some hope here at Headingley, currently there isn’t really any rain falling and the official word is there will be a pitch inspection at 1pm provided it stays clear. It is brightening up a little, keep the faith!
“You’re spot on re: the fourth Test in 2023” says Patrick Brennan. “Momentum was entirely with England and I have no doubt they would have won that series 3-2. Arguably they could and should have won it 5-0, they were streets ahead of the Australians that summer.” Hmm not sure about this second bit though, Paddy.
“It was very much England ‘won’ 2-2 that year although I think it’s entirely fair to say that Australia ‘won’ 2-2 in 2019, and could/should have won that series 4-0 without Benjamin Stokes…
Tom Barrington has one that doesn’t even bear thinking about:
“Hi Jim, a big one for me was the rain that fell after the end of play in the Adelaide Test in 2010-11 Ashes series. If the expected rain had come along and washed out the rest of the day, it would have been two emphatic draws for England but perhaps the spectre of lost opportunity would have weighed on them. They lost at Perth so would have gone into the boxing day test 1-0 down, and the famous series win may never have materialised!”
I had forgotten about that. England could have done with a bit of the wet stuff at Adelaide the last time around…
In fact, that’s quite a decent, if soggy, rabbit hole to head down for an OBO discussion. The Butterfly Effect of rain delays. Which games and whose careers might have looked significantly different if the wet stuff hadn’t fallen at a particular time or other?
I’ll wrack my brains, right now I’m just thinking of Tim Henman v Goran Ivanišević in the 2001 Wimbledon Semi Final:
Speaking of that Old Trafford Test in 2023, undoubtedly Zak Crawley’s finest display in an England shirt. He was unstoppable that day. I remember seeing Pat Cummins shaking his head in disbelief as himself and his bowling attack were relentlessly dispatched to all parts.
There’s a fair debate to be had that the BazBall project and Crawley’s Test career could have both had a very different feel in the following couple of years if the skies in Manchester hadn’t broken and wiped out the end of that match.
“Morning Jim, as someone who took one nephew to THAT particularly rainy Ashes day at Old Trafford and has day four tickets with another nephew for Headingley on Saturday, I can’t say I’d be that upset at a few lost overs today” writes a conflicted Michael in New Mills. “Although I don’t want to hope for too much rain for today’s crowd and the inevitable bad karma that would bring about.”
It’s a safe space here on the OBO Michael and between us we can keep karmic forces at bay.
I can confirm the rain has abated slightly here at Headingley and the super soppers are at least being operated up and down the rain strewn covers. We’re a long way away from an inspection and a start time at the moment though.
Rain delay reading:
“It won’t be, but this summer should be the ultimate wake up call for our cricket schedule. It’s an absolute farce considering the weather we’ve had recently in this country to now be watching covers” writes a disgruntled Liam Crowley.
“Pushing the county championships to the edges of the season has been a disaster, now we are doing it with the Test summer and lo and behold… I’m not having the attendance argument either. These Tests have sold pretty well for three days anyway. That’s about as much as the half empty Hundred is pulling for a handful of grounds.”
All fair points Liam, the debate about the schedule and The Hundred owners buying a chunk of August will rumble and grumble.
Speaking of the Champo – Tanya is on the tools on the County blog, it is a soggy scene in most places but play has broken out in some of the shires:
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“Morning James! Hope you’re enjoying the Test. I’m most certainly not…” writes Zain Malik.
“I sent this in yesterday and think it would better reflect circumstances and mood this morning:
The visiting cricketer must first contend with the peculiarities of the local climate. The sky hangs low over Headingley, a vast sheet of grey through which the sun, presumably, exists somewhere. Moisture clings to the grass and gathers on the seats. The pitch is a threatening shade of green. Beyond the boundary, spectators disappear beneath coats and umbrellas while the floodlights will soon glow in what the calendar, rather optimistically, describes as summer. This is most certainly not what a “heatwave” looks like.
Then comes the waiting.
The covers advance and retreat. Groundstaff emerge, confer and disappear. Water droplets gather on television cameras. Broadcasters in raincoats staring towards the square, caricatures of English cricketing misery, wearing the anxious resignation of patients at the dentist’s reception waiting for a name neither particularly wants to hear.
For Pakistanis, though, this is all strangely familiar. Test cricket has long played in the background of Pakistani life: on televisions in offices and bank branches, in shops and drawing rooms, followed intermittently between meetings, customers and cups of tea. And no fixture has tested that national appetite quite like a Test series in the English summer. The hours are convenient, the opposition familiar and the audience enormous; only the weather refuses to cooperate. England asks the Pakistani cricket follower to master one of the game’s more peculiar disciplines: spending an entire day watching almost no cricket at all.”
Lovely stuff Zain. I’m afraid to say it is steady mizzle at Headingley. The city buildings disappearing in a grey fug in the background, never a good sign.
Two Men and a Ball:
One win in England’s last 17 Tests. Those were the numbers that greeted Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes when they took over in 2022, a reminder of just how bad things had ended under Joe Root. It was a statistic that gave the new boys permission to rip up the old order.
So it’s easy to forget that precious one. It was near the middle of that horror run, and it came at Headingley against India five years ago this month. The tourists were bowled out for 78 as Root reached three figures and celebrated his 27th victory as Test captain, a record among Englishmen. The Yorkshireman had to come home to find some breathing space.”
Taha wrote a lovely piece about Root, Robinson, recent history and new beginnings:
Preamble
James Wallace
Was there anything more soul-sappingly disappointing as a child than flicking on the television on a summer holiday Test match morning fully expecting to luxuriate in a day of Test cricket watching only to be met with the sight of gun metal skies, thick drizzle and full covers stretched across the outfield? “As am sure you can see from the rather inclement scene behind me…” a mournful David Gower, Mark Nicholas or Tony Lewis would say down the lens. Crushing.
Welcome to the second day of this first Test between England and Pakistan from Headingley. I’m afraid to say that it is a wet one, folks. As the Beautiful South nearly sang – From Garforth to Gipton it’s rain. From Roundhay to Rawdon it’s rain.
The forecast isn’t good for most of the day but there’s a chance things might improve in the afternoon. From my perch here in the media centre at the ground I can see two unmanned super soppers on each side of the wicket and full covers in place. Urgh
Still, there’s plenty to get stuck into and we’ll be here to provide updates and facilitate debate, please do get in touch with your thoughts, theories and dead air time killing conversation topics.
In the meantime – catch up with Ali’s report from Day one which starred Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue and a sawn in half Dukes ball.