Footage of Brydon Carse kept flashing up on the big screens at Lord’s on Thursday. Not that footage, of course, but rather the headline-grabbing fast bowler enjoying a refreshing can of the fizzy apple juice that is English cricket’s “official drinks break partner”. In fairness, both clips make a decent advert for sticking to soft drinks.
In Carse’s absence – not that he was likely to play in this second Test against Pakistan – the metaphorical clouds hanging over this England team made way for the real thing. And after being stuck in on a nibbling slow surface, a Swiss clock-precise seamer such as Mohammad Abbas only ever going to be a handful.
Abbas duly stamped his mark on proceedings by nipping out four wickets that, with three from the expressive Mohammad Ali, lifted Pakistan’s mood significantly after their no-show at Headingley. But for two proficient half-centuries from Jordan Cox, 55, and Jamie Smith, 61, England’s eventual 248 for nine from 56 overs by the time bad light brought the close would have been considerably worse.
Jamie Smith's reaction
It’s a decent enough day for us because the ball was nipping around. Pakistan bowled nicely and showed that, when you take wickets with the new ball, you can put teams under pressure.
I found it tough [at the start of the innings] and it’s been a lean period for me. I was scratching around but once I started to find the middle of the bat [it got easier] and changing the tempo seemed to help today. I felt like I was playing better and better as the innings went on.
Over the winter I had a technical issue with my front foot crossing over. Playing a block of red-ball cricket for Surrey, batting at No 3, helped me rectify that. Then I had to alter my rhythm to bat No 7 in the Test team.
On reflection I should have been more aggressive at Headingley [in the first Test]. When I poke around it’s never the best version of myself.
It’s been nice to work hard at standing up to the stumps with Sarah Taylor. I hadn’t done a lot of it but it’s something I enjoy. It’ll help the team get wickets and that’s the main thing.
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Stumps
The umpires have called it a day, so it’s time for the Sky Sports team to have a post-play chat with Jamie Smith.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has made a formal complaint to Sky Sports after it broadcast an interview with Imran Khan’s sons, Kasim and Sulaiman, during its coverage of the first day’s play of the second Test at Lord’s.
During the interview Khan’s children raised concerns about the Pakistan government’s treatment of the country’s former prime minister, who has been held in solitary confinement for the past three years.
Khan’s lawyers have described his living conditions as slow-motion murder, while his sister has claimed he has been tortured while in prison. The 73-year-old was moved to a hospital last week for treatment after a supreme court ruling permitted his temporary release, but has since been returned to prison.
The precise nature of the PCB’s complaint is unknown other than the fact that Sky gave a platform to individuals critical of the government.
Sky has acknowledged the complaint, but declined to comment when contacted by the Guardian.
Bad light stops play
There are a few boos at the umpires’ decision, though nothing particularly mutinous. That isn’t necessarily it for the day – the players need to back on by 7pm. I wouldn’t put the farm on it.
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The umpires are checking the light. This rarely ends well.
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56th over: England 248-9 (Atkinson 34, Tongue 1) Abbas needs one wicket for a five-for. He almost gets it when Atkinson tries to work the ball to leg and somehow gets a boundary over the slips.
“Many people said that Pakistan lacked their customary spark at Headingley,” writes Zain Malik. “Well, gentlemen, is this enough spark for you? England nine down at Lord’s: three nip-backers, Salman flying in the slips bright, glittering and now sufficiently combustible that the London Fire Brigade may shortly be summoned to St John’s Wood. Any more and the MCC will have to start issuing welding goggles at the Grace Gate.”
You know what they say: don’t call the fire brigade until both teams have batted.
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WICKET! England 243-9 (Archer b Abbas 14)
Archer heaves violently across the line, misses and is bowled by Abbas. The end.
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55th over: England 237-8 (Atkinson 29, Archer 10) Archer averages 19 with the bat since his return to Test cricket last summer. In the first phase of his Test career, from 2019-21, he averaged only 7.75. Do with those numbers what you will.
54th over: England 235-8 (Atkinson 28, Archer 8) England’s lower-order batters may as well crack on. The lights are on at Lord’s so they’ll be keen to bowl at Pakistan before the close. Well, unless Atkinson and Archer add 400.
Rizwan comes up to the stumps for Archer, who responds with the jauntiest of straight drives for six! That’s a glorious shot. Archer must be close to being promoted above Ollie Robinson in the batting order.
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53rd over: England 227-8 (Atkinson 27, Archer 1) Jofra Archer almost runs himself out first ball. He and Atkinson got in a mix-up but Mohammad Abbas’s close-range sidefoot missed the stumps.
The resulting single brought Atkinson back on strike, and he ended the over by lashing a square drive for four. Atkinson is playing well and has charged to 27 from 23 balls.
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WICKET! England 222-8 (Robinson b Ali 0)
Two wickets in three balls! Robinson pushes defensively at a cracking delivery that bursts through the gate and flattens the off stump. Just a lovely piece of bowling.
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WICKET! England 222-7 (Smith b Ali 61)
Jamie Smith is cleaned up by an excellent delivery from Muhammad Ali. He tried to drive a full ball that snaked back through the gate to violate the stumps in a manner that brooked nol argument. Ali deserves that wicket after a skilful and luckless spell.
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52nd over: England 221-6 (Smith 61, Atkinson 22) Ali Usman comes on for Khurram Shahzad, whose bowling figures tell the story of another tough day: 15-0-79-1. The change almost works when Atkinson inside-edges just past the stumps, and picks up three runs to boot. Every little helps.
51st over: England 218-6 (Smith 61, Atkinson 19) Smith rifles Ali down the ground for four, probably the best shot he’s played so far. This is now his highest Test score since he made 184* and 88 against India at Edgbaston last summer.
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50th over: England 214-6 (Smith 57, Atkinson 19) Weather permitting, play will continue for another couple of days hours, so this an important session.
Atkinson, who has started aggressively, tries to whip Khurram to leg and gets a leading edge that lands safely in the covers. A crap delivery is slapped past backward point for four more. Atkinson loves batting at Lord’s; he’s scored around 30% of his Test runs on this ground.
49th over: England 202-6 (Smith 54, Atkinson 11) Cox played well but he may reflect that he became a little too becalmed: he scored 17 from his last 67 deliveries. I appreciate it’s not easy.
Atkinson thick edges Ali along the ground for four to bring up England’s 200. It’s been a pretty good recovery from 80 for 4.
48th over: England 198-6 (Smith 54, Atkinson 7) That catch gets better every time you see it. Salman was at full stretch and the ball was almost behind him when he grabbed it.
The rest of the over, alas, is a load of nonsense. Atkinson and Smith both help themselves to boundaries when Khurram strays onto the pads.
Salman Ali Agha, who is on the field as a substitute, has taken a blinder. Cox tried to drive a tempting outswinger from Khurram and edged it wide of second slip. Salman flew to his right and stuck out an arm to clasp a glorious catch, one that will be replayed for a helluva long time.
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WICKET! England 187-6 (Cox c sub b Khurram 55)
Jordan Cox falls to an all-timer of a slip catch!
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47th over: England 187-5 (Cox 55, Smith 50) Smith has an airy-fairy hook at Ali and is beaten. He has bowled much better than figures of 13-2-50-1 might suggest.
“Loved seeing that Worcs scorecard, Rob, that’s just mad,” writes John Swan. “Great to see Malcolm Nash, of the Sobers 6 sixes, on it, plus some great names – d’OIiveira Senior, Phil Neale, Dipak Patel and Norman Gifford – the latter two reminding us that players have been leaving Worcestershire for other teams since time immemorial!”
Never mind all that manosphere horse pucky. If masculinity really is in crisis, there’s only one thing for it: Scorecard Club. If this is your first night… start trawling Statsguru, or else.
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46th over: England 186-5 (Cox 55, Smith 50) Babar returns to the field just in time to see Smith squirt Khurram through point for four. A single off the pads takes him to a quietly emphatic fifty from just 63 balls.
“It’s good to see Smith getting some runs,” writes Tom Van der Gucht. “I wonder about the impact that selecting him as an all-format player – and trying to remould him as an opener – may have had on his technique and confidence, leading to his recent slump in form. It must hard to bounce between the two roles. There’s not many Gilchrists or Bairstows in the world. Fingers crossed he’ll be back to his best and he won’t be cursed by my email and be out before I hit send.”
45th over: England 181-5 (Cox 55, Smith 45) Babar Azam is off the field so Saud Shakeel is in charge for a bit. Muhammad Ali continues after tea and beats Cox with a textbook channel delivery.
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Tim de Lisle, who will be in the OBO chair tomorrow, has sent in a couple of excellent spots about Jordan Cox’s innings.
“By making consecutive Test fifties at No 3, Cox has done something Jacob Bethell has yet to do.
“And he made 38 off his first 38 balls, so it’s been 17 off 64 since. And not in a bad way!”
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On the subject of England No3s who hit the ground scoring fifties, here’s Ian Jeffroy.
While it’s not a valid answer to your question, followers of a certain vintage will look back and remember the following with a far-off look in their eyes... 50, 45, 73, 92, 39, 66, 106.
The bank clerk who went to war.
There’s a piece in the archive from the great Rob Bagchi, too, so that’s the tea break sorted.
Tea
44th over: England 180-5 (Cox 55, Smith 44) A quiet over from Khurram ends a decent afternoon session for England. They scored exactly 100 in 26 overs for the loss of Dan Lawrence, who was run out to the sound of the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme. Bom bom bom…
The impressive Jordan Cox made a serene 55 not out, while Jamie Smith punished anything loose to race to 44 not out.
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Jamie Smith scored 7 from his first 26 balls; he’s added 37 from the last 23.
43rd over: England 177-5 (Cox 54, Smith 44) Smith clips Ali for two to bring up a rapid fifty partnership. Ali screams in frustration when Smith edges a boundary between second slip and gully; he’s had no luck in this spell.
“Passing quickly over Phil Crockford’s sharply saucy rejoinder, what a splendid description of Smith’s boundary off Usman (over 40) - and I trust you meant defiles through the covers rather than defies?” says Brian Withington. “In poor imitation I can only offer insinuates past gully, mullers over mid-wicket and sullies through the slips.”
England have done a fair bit of sullying today.
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42nd over: England 167-5 (Cox 54, Smith 34) Khurram Shahzad returns in place of Ali Usman. Smith plays a slightly woolly defensive stroke to his first ball, which bounces back over the stumps. Nothing woolly about the next delivery: Smith larrups it through the covers for four. A clip for three takes Smith to 34 from 43 deliveries, a low-key reminder of just how dangerous he can be.
“My favourite genre of your OBO posts are when you link to an old Cricinfo scorecard,” says Edmund Bannister. “For me those that are older in time and further away in distance geographically are particularly enjoyable. Keep up the good work old sport.”
Edmund, old boy, you are cordially invited to cop a load of this Worcestershire innings. It has no relevance to today’s game but just look at it.
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41st over: England 158-5 (Cox 54, Smith 25) Cox is beaten by successive jaffas from Cox. The first straightened sharply from a length, the second burst past Cox’s nose. An extremely good maiden over.
“Hi Rob,” writes Phil Crockford. “This is the first time that both England batters have been varieties of apple since... the previous wicket. The St. Lawrence apple is, Google tells me, a variety of apple created in the 19th century in Montreal.”
40th over: England 158-5 (Cox 54, Smith 25) Smith defiles Usman through the covers for four more. After a dry spell of 18 runs in 12 overs, England have bashed 29 in the last three.
39th over: England 151-5 (Cox 53, Smith 19) Mohammad Abbas (13-3-38-3) is replaced by Muhammad Ali. His second delivery stings like a butterfly: it’s on the pads, a piece of nonsense really, and Smith helps himself to four through midwicket.
Ali tightens his line as the over progresses. Smith is beaten, trying to drive, and then edges past the diving Rizwan for four. Rizwan should have taken that – he dived past the ball, which you don’t see too often, and he was too deep in the first place.
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38th over: England 142-5 (Cox 53, Smith 11) The hitherto immaculate Ali Usman bowls successive long hops to Cox, who pulls both for four to reach a mature half-century from 88 balls. He’s the first England men’s player to make a fifty in his first two Test innings at No3 since… Ravi Bopara in 2009.
Usman has suddenly lost the plot, or at least his length. Another half tracker is banjoed to the cover boundary by Smith. Usman’s first six overs cost 11 runs; the seventh has disappeared for 13.
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37th over: England 129-5 (Cox 44, Smith 7) A maiden from Abbas to Smith. He’s making England work for every dot ball, never mind every run, by giving them almost nothing they can leave.
“With due credit to Totes McGotes over at the nefarious bed of infamy that is CCLive!, when was the last time England had a partnership involving two varieties of apple (apart from the last time these two batted together)?” chomps Brian Withington. “Or any other fruit for that matter - let the OBO hive mind loose, I say.”
I’m still reeling from the description of our county cricker blog as a nefarious bed of infamy.
36th over: England 129-5 (Cox 44, Smith 7) Smith feels tentatively for a beauty from Usman and edges it just wide of slip. The ball runs away for England’s first boundary since the 21st over. They’re stonewalling on Bazball’s grave!
On Sky Sports, Dinesh Karthik highlights why Pakistan’s slip cordon should be a lot closer to the bat. For a second I thought he was going to belt out the refrain to Transatlanticism by Death Cab.
(NB: Clip contains adult language. Probably, I can’t remember.)
Back to the quiz question nobody is talking about (see 33rd over).
“IR Bell?” wonders Tom Paternoster-Howe.
Nope, I think he made 71 and 31 at Multan in 2005. And you know I don’t like to talk about Multan 2005, Tom.
35th over: England 123-5 (Cox 43, Smith 2) Smith crouches to keep out a straight ball from Abbas that keeps a bit low. He’s started a little tentatively; only a touch, let’s not make a big thing of it. If he’s 3 not out from 100 balls we can revisit the subject.
Alec Gregory points out that England’s score is one two three for five.
34th over: England 123-5 (Cox 43, Smith 2) “I can report that Sam Cook has made it up from Lord’s to Chelmsford and responded by bowling impeccably at Surrey with parsimonious figures of 6-4-1-8,” writes Brian Withington. “Prised out the redoubtable Sibley and could easily have been 4-8. Top bowler.”
He’s taken eight for one?! But seriously, it’s a crime against skill that he’s a one-cap wonder
33rd over: England 122-5 (Cox 43, Smith 1) Cox chases a wide tempter from Mohammad Abbas and is beaten. The run-out must be rattling around his noggin, even if he was probably correct to send Lawrence back.
Cox needs to refocus, mainly because there’s a niche stat at stake, one that would make me inordinately happy: he needs seven runs to become the first England player to reach 50 in their first two Test innings at No3 since…
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32nd over: England 120-5 (Cox 42, Smith 0) Jamie Smith props forward to defend his first few deliveries. Ali Usman has started nicely and has figures of 4-1-4-0.
Dan Lawrence has been run out straight after drinks. He worked Ali Usman to the right of midwicket and set off like world peace depended on him taking a single. Cox shaped to go before changing his mind, and Lawrence was well short when Rizwan collected Masood’s flat throw and swished his hands into the stumps.
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WICKET! England 120-5 (Lawrence run out 17)
What a shemozzle!
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Afternoon one, afternoon all. Thanks to Taha for a marathon shift – the OBO equivalent of a 12-over spell, into the wind, with the old ball.
31st over: England 118-4 (Lawrence 15, Cox 42) I’ve already said this several times, but why isn’t Rizwan up to the stumps when Abbas is bowling to Cox? Anyway, it’s time for Rob Smyth to ask the hard-hitting questions. Thanks for reading!
30th over: England 116-4 (Lawrence 15, Cox 42) Lawrence and Cox – two men who can really whack it – are playing it cool. They take just one off Usman.
29th over: England 115-4 (Lawrence 15, Cox 41) Mohammad Abbas returns and is as reliable as ever, conceding a couple of singles.
28th over: England 113-4 (Lawrence 14, Cox 40) Tailenders listeners will recognise that Usman is bowling some Lovely Loopy Stuff. He concedes just one off another fine over.
27th over: England 112-4 (Lawrence 13, Cox 40) Shahzad, angling the ball in before nipping it away from the right-hander, is getting Cox into some slightly awkward shapes. Some pressure builds as Shahzad strings together six dots …. Nah, scrap that: Shahzad has overstepped.
26th over: England 111-4 (Lawrence 13, Cox 40) Spin for the first time today, with Ali Usman ready to tweak. He took five at Headingley and finds his spot quickly, finding some spin to twirl it past Lawrence’s outside-edge. It’s a beautiful start by the left-armer, tossing it up and inviting Lawrence to try give it a whack. The batter resists and Usman has a maiden.
25th over: England 111-4 (Lawrence 13, Cox 40) Shahzad oversteps as he plots the dismissal of Lawrence, who should have gone in the bowler’s previous over. And then he oversteps again before Lawrence makes life worse, whipping for three. Four leg-byes follow before an edge, off Cox, drops short on Imam-ul-Haq in the Pakistan slip cordon, which has looked iffy all day.
24th over: England 100-4 (Lawrence 10, Cox 38) Can Ali complete Pakistan’s first maiden of the day? He lands five dots before Cox flashes hard outside off … and misses.
23rd over: England 100-4 (Lawrence 10, Cox 38) Shahzad can’t believe he hasn’t got Lawrence – a gorgeous nip-backer narrowly evades the stumps. And then the same ball follows moments later! And then, oh dear, another drop by Pakistan. Lawrence plays an audacious whip and Shan Masood should be taking that at midwicket, at a fairly comfortable height. Oh, Pakistan. Why do you do this?
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22nd over: England 98-4 (Lawrence 8, Cox 38) Mohammad Abbas is getting loose – he’ll be on shortly. For now it’s Ali, who finds shape and a leading edge off Cox, the ball dropping just short of point. Cox suddenly looks a bit troubled, with Ali whizzing the ball past the outside edge after the batter dances down the pitch. This is good from Ali … until the umpire’s arm is raised to mark his fourth no-ball of the day. We’re still waiting for our first maiden in this innings.
21st over: England 97-4 (Lawrence 8, Cox 38) Shahzad nibbles the ball away from Lawrence, who pushes at it – an edge runs away to the ropes. Lawrence makes a big jump to the off-side to the next delivery and is trying his best to pepper the on-side.
20th over: England 92-4 (Lawrence 4, Cox 37) Mohammad Ali has the ball from the other end, and Dan Lawrence doesn’t quite middle a cover drive, taking two to close the over.
19th over: England 89-4 (Lawrence 2, Cox 36) Shahzad is too short and wide, and Cox punches off the back-foot for four. The Essex man just looks a Test player, doesn’t he? An off-drive takes Cox to 36 off 35.
Time to get going again. Jordan Cox will line up for the first delivery after the break.
With Sky playing an interview with Imran Khan’s sons, it’s worth reading this by the brilliant Osman Samiuddin.
Peter Walker writes in:
It will be interesting to see how Cox & Lawrence bat together. Essex nabbed Cox from Kent when Surrey nabbed Lawrence from Essex. Since that happened I would say that Essex got the better deal.
Ooh, I don’t know – it’s worked out well for everyone. Lawrence’s first-class record at Surrey is brilliant: 32 matches, 2,327 runs at 55.4, including nine hundreds.
Harry Brook’s wicket makes it Pakistan’s session. They’ve not looked all that sharp in the field but Mohammad Abbas has shown enough magic with the new ball, while Mohammad Rizwan took a cracking grab down the leg-side to get rid of Emilio Gay.
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Lunch
Ali oversteps again, for the third time today, before launching a wild leg-before appeal against Dan Lawrence. It’s clearly going down the leg-side, even if Ali’s plea is passionate. It’s the two new boys (sort of) who must rescue England. But first: we must all eat.
18th over: England 80-4 (Lawrence 2, Cox 27)
WICKET! Brook b Ali 15 (England 77-4)
Bowled him! Huge for Pakistan! Mohammad Ali wobbles the ball into Harry Brook and gets some sharp movement to rattle the stumps!
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17th over: England 77-3 (Brook 15, Cox 27) Mohammad Abbas is finally granted a rest. Khurram Shahzad has to lock in for the next few minutes and he keeps things quiet, conceding a single.
16th over: England 72-3 (Brook 14, Cox 27) Ali oversteps for the second time in his spell, suggesting he’s still trying to get to grips with his run-up. He surprises Cox with an in-ducker but the No 3 closes the over with a lush off-drive for four and a clip down the leg-side for another boundary. He’s on 27 off 26 balls.
15th over: England 66-3 (Brook 13, Cox 19) Abbas is into his eighth over as Rizwan comes up to the stumps … and Brook punches gracefully through point for four. Brook is still starting outside his crease with the keeper up before rocking back to play.
14th over: England 59-3 (Brook 8, Cox 19) It looks to me like Pakistan are just thinking of going stump-to-stump against Brook, who is easing the ball through leg-side when they go too straight.
13th over: England 57-3 (Brook 7, Cox 19) I’m not sure why Rizwan isn’t up to the stumps while Cox is batting against Abbas. The seamer squares Cox up … with an edge evading the cordon as it runs away for four. Cox continues to step out of his crease – again, why isn’t Rizwan up?
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12th over: England 49-3 (Brook 6, Cox 12) Ali is too full and wide as Cox, who has looked calm from ball one, drives for four. Root, on the other hand, was surprisingly fidgety throughout his brief stay. Brook sees width and wildly slashes … at air. This should be a very watchable half-hour before lunch.
11th over: England 42-3 (Brook 4, Cox 7) Abbas greets Brook with a leg-stump gift, and the right-hander whips it away for four. The big problem for Pakistan? At some point they’re going to have to give their 36-year-old quick a rest.
WICKET! Root lbw Abbas 4 (England 36-3)
Abbas has Root leg-before! And he’s not reviewing it! Rizwan is up to the stumps and that keeps the batter stuck in the crease. Abbas wobbles it in, finds the back leg and the umpire’s finger. Imam, you may breathe. Time to see what Harry Brook does.
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10th over: England 35-2 (Root 4, Cox 6) Mohammad Ali replaces Khurram Shahzad … and Imam-ul-Haq drops Root at third slip! Oh, what a miss that is. Ali finds outswing immediately and Root can’t resist the booming drive – Imam goes low and doesn’t hold on. You may as well write Root’s name on the honours board now.
9th over: England 31-2 (Root 1, Cox 5) Cox is getting down the pitch, presumably to negate Abbas’ movement with the wobble seam. The No 3 shuffles down before, rather comically, opting to leave. Pakistan make a change, with Rizwan coming up to the stumps to keep the batters in their crease.
8th over: England 29-2 (Root 0, Cox 4) Shahzad makes it through the over without conceding a boundary, but Cox does pull away for three. The action is at Abbas’ end.
7th over: England 26-2 (Root 0, Cox 1) Abbas and Pakistan are excited, a little too excited as they go up to review a leg-before shout against Joe Root. As DRS shows, Root was struck outside off-stump. Pakistan have found some energy, though.
WICKET! Duckett lbw Abbas 17 (England 26-2)
Jordan Cox, immediately, is keen to get down the pitch. He’s off the mark with a clip through the leg-side for one. And then a serious leg-before shout! Abbas nips it back into Duckett and the umpire says no. But this could be dangerous for Duckett … maybe just a question of height. No, it’s three reds, crashing into off stump! Abbas has his second of the day and his 900th first-class wicket!
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6th over: England 25-1 (Duckett 17, Cox 0) That’ll be a really tough one to take for Gay, still finding his way in his first summer at this level. Shahzad continues to string together dots before the loose one creeps in – Duckett drives through the off-side for another boundary. Shahzad has conceded three boundaries from his three overs and nothing else.
WICKET! Gay c Rizwan b Abbas 8 (England 21-1)
Abbas finally has a look at Gay after bowling exclusively at Duckett. The veteran quick opts for a change of angle, going around the wicket, before switching back to over … Gay is left in a tangle as the ball nibbles away from him. And then a leg-side strangle! What a grab by Mohammad Rizwan! Abbas goes wayward and Gay gets some bat on it as Rizwan leaps to his right, holding on with one hand. Pakistan have had an iffy start but they’ve got a wicket, too.
5th over: England 21-1 (Duckett 13, Cox 0)
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4th over: England 20-0 (Duckett 12, Gay 8) Shahzad offers up a four-ball … and Gay takes it at the start of the over. Five dots follow but Gay looks fairly comfortable against the right-armer.
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3rd over: England 16-0 (Duckett 12, Gay 4) Abbas, bouncing in from the Nursery End, wobbles it past Duckett’s outside edge once again. But the left-hander is proactive, shuffling down the pitch to drive through mid-off for four. How long until Mohammad Rizwan is called to the stumps? A Duckett cut for four closes the over and Pakistan are already under the pump.
2nd over: England 8-0 (Duckett 4, Gay 4) Khurram Shahzad is up from the other end, around the wicket to Emilio Gay. The quick whizzes one past the outside edge … before presenting a half-volley. Gay leans into a lush drive through point for four.
1st over: England 4-0 (Duckett 4, Gay 0) Mohammad Abbas has the Dukes and a green Lord’s deck to play with. Pakistan have to strike early. Ben Duckett leaves a wide loosener to kick us off. Another loose delivery is punched for two before Abbas finds his spot, beating the outside edge with a wobble-seamer. Another corker soon follows, nibbling away from Duckett at 76mph. And then an edge … but the ball doesn’t carry to the cordon.
The anthems are done. Let’s get going.
I would imagine/hope that Mohammad Abbas has been watching highlights of himself on this ground eight years ago.
Pakistan win the toss and choose to bowl first
Finally, here we go. Babar Azam wins the toss and decides to bowl first. Time for Mohammad Abbas to nibble it around. Pakistan being Pakistan, they’ve dropped the guy who captained them last week. Babar replaces Salman Ali Agha.
England are unchanged.
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Guy Hornsby writes in:
What a Test rearguard in Colombo it’s been this morning while we wait for play at Lords! What’s your thoughts on team line-ups here? I’d assume that England will play the same XI, given the overheads and likely only getting 4 days’ play maximum. Pakistan have a change with Babar coming back in, but will they change their attack? It doesn’t feel like the pitch will be that dry with the weather, so will they bring in a quick? Perhaps Amer Jamal is an option? They surely can’t be as poor this time out, but it’s sad to see them in such a rut, and England will have their tails up and be wanting 2-0 inside 4 days. I’d just like to see a bit of fight, as much as anything, even though I want England to win the series.
I just don’t see much changing with Pakistan’s bowling even if they tweak their lineup. Babar is huge in that he gives them a shot at a more respectable total with the bat, but the troubling part is that they fielded their best seam lineup (from the options on this tour) at Headingley. Aamer Jamal had that breakout tour of Australia in 2023-24, when he took two six-fers, but hasn’t done much since at this level. I watched a bit of Ubaid Shah against West Indies and he still seems very raw. At the very least, they have to be better in the field this Test. I do think they’ve got some runs in them, mainly through Babar and Abdullah Shafique.
The toss is now scheduled for 12pm BST, with play to begin at 12.20. We pray.
Toss delayed ... again
Yeah, we all saw it coming.
Play scheduled to start at 12pm BST
It’s an 11.30pm toss and noon start … but it still doesn’t look all that pretty out there.
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Sonal Dinusha’s got his second ton of the Test! The 25-year-old is driving Sri Lanka to safety in Colombo. He’s the first player to hit twin tons in a Test against India since Jonny Bairstow in 2022.
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We’ll have an inspection at 11.10am, says Ian Ward. Sky have just shown the highlights of Pakistan’s win at Lord’s in 2016 … what a game.
Zain Malik writes in:
Bland, poor, predictable, tired: the weakest Pakistan side to visit England since 1954. The precise adjective hardly matters. When the English press has just watched your batting dissolve before lunch, it tends to grow rather fond of the thesaurus.
And yet history suggests that a thoroughly humiliated Pakistan can be a dangerous thing. Rock bottom has often served less as a resting place than a trampoline: sometimes towards victory, sometimes merely towards a performance that restores the will to live.
Headingley has seldom been especially hospitable. St John’s Wood, however, is different territory. Pakistan have played England 15 times at Lord’s and possess the faintly insolent record of five wins against four defeats, with six draws. For all England’s proprietorial claims upon the Home of Cricket, Pakistan have occasionally behaved there like difficult tenants who have discovered that the landlord cannot legally evict them.
So, with the suzerainty of Lord’s once again at stake, Babar returning to find Inzamam’s great portrait and Pakistan having already located the ocean floor at Headingley, I would hesitate before writing off the men in green.
There is nowhere left for them to go but up, which, admittedly, has never stopped Pakistan from attempting to dig.
Over in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s Sonal Dinusha, just five Tests into his career, is having a staggering series against India.
He’s unbeaten on 98 against Shubman Gill’s side, nearing his third hundred in four innings. Get on this scorecard.
Toss delayed
Well, it’s hardly a shock.
This could be huge:
And gives me a chance to shamelessly plug something I wrote last year.
It doesn’t look like we’re going to see much happen this morning. A good time to catch up on some preview reading:
Preamble
Hello, hello, hello. It’s been 10 years since Misbah-ul-Haq’s Pakistan side rolled up at Lord’s and put it all together. Misbah, 42, reached three figures and celebrated with … push-ups. Yasir Shah, a wonderful leggie, spun his way to 10 wickets. And Mohammad Amir, who six years earlier had left the same venue in disgrace, went straight through Jake Ball to secure the 75-run victory. They saluted and sparkled, showing England they were up for the contest.
Ten years? Feels longer, especially after what we all saw in Leeds last week. Pakistan were remarkably poor across three days, and England should really wrap up the series this week. Yes, they’ve got to deal with the headlines from some more late-night drama. But they’re used to that, right?
Let’s just all hope that this is more of a game, that the returning Babar Azam unfurls a few on-drives that flick a switch for the tourists, that this Lord’s pitch holds up OK. Annoyingly, the weather forecast isn’t great. You’ll just have to keep me busy with your thoughts, worries, hopes, dreams, recommendations and more.
