So England close on 177-7, sitting pretty with a lead of 357. Poor old Pakistan have made only 416 from three innings in the series. Tomorrow, when the forecast is a bit better, I suspect Joe Root will bat on long enough to see if Dan Lawrence can get a hundred, though he may decide that England need to get on with sealing the series.
On a day when the Lord’s pitch went from tricky for batting to downright treacherous, Lawrence was the star player. He scored 50 not out off only 66 balls and made batting look easier than Harry Brook did, which is no mean feat. For Pakistan, the beacon in the gloom was Mohammad Abbas, who bowled a tireless spell, grabbed the big wicket of Brook and gave himself a chance of finally taking the five-for that will put him on the honours board, up where he belongs.
Thanks for your company, correspondence, reminiscences about sixth-form common rooms and links to rude words in dictionaries. The OBO will be back in the morning as ever, and I’ll be back in the afternoon to see if Man United can do any better against Ipswich than they did against Hull.
Back at Lord’s, it has brightened up. “And no one’s doing anything,” says Nasser Hussain. Hang on, someone is … it’s announced that play has been abandoned for the day because of bad light.
“It’s a joke,” says Nasser. “That is an unbelievable decision.”
There are boos from what remains of the crowd. But, for what it’s worth, they will get some of their money back.
“A useful tip for rain delays,” says Kimberley Thonger. “Jonathon Green’s very wonderful Dictionary of Slang is now online and much amusement lies within. Polite company forbids me from offering anything more than a clue to my favourite word . Seven letters, starts with F, ends with T. Fifth letter W.
Ha. This is the Guardian, not one of the tabloids – swearwords are allowed. Especially in the interests of lexicography.
This reminds me that Julian Barnes, who worked on the Oxford Dictionary before he got going as a novelist, would proudly tell people that he had written the OED entry for “fuck”.
“It is looking a little brighter,” says Ian Ward. The covers are coming off and the umpires are out there, wielding light meters.
“Bizarrely,” Ward adds, “I can see a bit of blue sky.”
“A third chance?” says Peter Metcalfe. “All for Pope getting a third chance, but hope this generosity does not extend to Crawley, or there will be a mass protest.”
If there is, it may be misplaced. I’ve been looking at England openers since the end of Joe Root’s first stint as captain in spring 2022. Ben Duckett has done the best, as you’d expect, with an average of 40. Zak Crawley, creeping back into form with Kent, has an average of 32. Three others have been picked as openers (rather than just doing it once or twice, like Pope and Ben Stokes). Alex Lees has an average of 25, so does Emilio Gay, and Dan Lawrence, shoved up the order rather unfairly, gets the wooden spoon with 20. Put those three together and they average 24.
So Crawley has done about 33pc better than the others. And he did a good job as a captain in the Hundred with Sunrisers Leeds, who finished third. I wouldn’t write him off just yet.
Sky Sports go back to Lord’s, where the covers are still on and the clouds are now a darker shade of grey. “This might just make the umpires make a decision,” says Stuart Broad.
If you’re after some action, other live blogs are available. To see if Roberto de Zerbi or Matthias Jaissle can record a first league win with their new clubs, do join Barry Glendenning for Spurs v Newcastle. If you’d rather stick with cricket, the tireless Tanya Aldred is covering several games at the same time, including one that Durham may be about to win.
Related: Durham v Gloucestershire, Glamorgan v Hampshire: county cricket, day three – live
The emails are flowing! “Further to Guy’s remarks about Gay and Lawrence,” says David Howell, “I think the most encouraging aspect is that they’re both there. Are they truly Test class? I don’t think it’s settled either way for either of them, but any addition to the ‘maybe’ pile makes it easier to absorb any losses through injury (or, given this team, off-field incident), and in a sport whose top players seem to be playing all the time on a different continent each month, that added depth feels like a Big Deal.”
Interesting point. And Ollie Pope’s return to the squad suggests that the new selector, Marcus North, believes in giving people a second or third chance.
The latest email in my inbox comes from Lord’s Ticketing. “There’s still time,” it says, “to secure your place at Day Four.” Not sure about that preposition.
It’s raining again. The covers are on and Sky, deciding that this break may take a while, are showing The Film Room, with Atherton, Nasser and David Lloyd reminiscing about England’s series against Pakistan in 1996. All of them were involved – Atherton as captain, Lloyd as coach and Hussain as one of the batters trying to cope with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
“Those previous posts regarding 6th Form Common Rooms back in the 70s brought back memories here too,” says Mike Jennings. “My own 6th Form years, 1976-77, were an interesting set-up where our St.Aidan’s C.E. Harrogate shared our 6th with St. John Fisher’s R.C about 500 yards down the road. This meant having two Common Rooms. St.Aidan’s was a brand new space, all pine and chrome furniture. Very dull. But the John Fisher’s was up in the attic and furnished with mismatched ratty but comfy old armchairs and sofas.
“We painted it ourselves in hideous 70s orange and chocolate leftover paints. The space was pretty much the Masters’ Common Room in Gormengast (without the smoking obviously) but with the addition of a record player, featuring this.”
Another email! It’s Guy Hornsby, with a tale of two batters. “A gloomy, nippy day of cricket,” he says, “one which you’d think if Pakistan’s batters could’ve bedded in more, it would’ve been much more pressure for this England line-up. I’m curious on the relative credit of Emilio Gay and Dan Lawrence.
“Gay has not scored enough runs, but has often looked serene when he has, batting in the hardest of conditions. Lawrence has come in when the pressure is less, and has often looked to counter-attack. But is his innings today any proof he can succeed in this most lofty of formats? I really rate him, and he’s pulled up trees in the Championship, but how solid does he really look?
“You feel perhaps now even a ton next week may not be enough for Gay, but Cox has looked a much stronger bet to me for the middle order. A good problem to have perhaps, but who’d be an opener against Abbas?”
“The rain has gotten heavier,” says Eoin Morgan. In that very mini-session, we had 12 minutes’ play, 15 runs and one wicket. England lead by 357 runs, and the commentators have begun to wonder if Joe Root will declare tonight.
My guess is that he’ll want to give Dan Lawrence the chance to reach his first Test century. And if Root does declare, something tells me it won’t be when Lawrence is on 98.
47th over: England 177-7 (Lawrence 50, Robinson 2) As Mohammad Ali continues, Ollie Robinson avoids a pair with a neat clip to leg, and Dan Lawrence pulls for a single to reach a fine 50 off only 64 balls. “Has to be one of the better fifties he’s got in his career,” says Dinesh Karthik. “Not just his international career.” And then the weather strikes back.
46th over: England 174-7 (Lawrence 49, Robinson 0) Babar persists with Ali Usman, when surely Mo Abbas is itching to resume his bid for the honours board. Lawrence tucks in: a mis-timed slog for four, a neat lap for two, and a proper slog-sweep for six .
45th over: England 162-7 (Lawrence 37, Robinson 0) Time for Lawrence to throw the bat, perhaps.
WICKET! Atkinson LBW b Mohammad Ali 7 (England 162-7)
Mohammad Ali has three balls of this over left and he uses them well. He persuades Atkinson to take a big swish at thin air, then shuts him up with a bouncer, and finally pins him LBW. It’s plumb and Atkinson doesn’t bother to review.
The covers are off and the players are out there.
We have an email! “Very much enjoyed John Harrington’s earlier reminiscences of 6th Form break out rooms of yore,” says Brian Withington, picking up on a post from 12:48. “Mine was two miles down the road from his and two years later at the Royal Liberty in Gidea Park, Romford.
“I think Monty Python still featured on the turntable fairly regularly, but my personal memory is of my own copy of Yesterdays with the definitive cross-genre cover of Paul Simon’s wonderful America by the early Yes line up. Mmmm, nice.”
I never thought the day would come when I would expose our readers to the sound of Yes, but as Brian is an old friend of the OBO, and Paul Simon is a genius, here we go.
And that will be tea. England have made 81-3 today, just as they did last night, to reach 162-6. They lead by 342 runs, and should end up setting Pakistan a target that is close to what they’ve managed in three innings so far – 416.
Mid-45th over: England 162-6 (Lawrence 37, Atkinson 7) Atkinson, loosened up by those singles, flicks Mohammad Ali for four. And then, as the light dims and the rain begins to fall, the umpires call a halt.
44th over: England 158-6 (Lawrence 37, Atkinson 3) Mohammad Abbas finally takes a break, with 18-2-48-3 in this innings and 15 wickets at Lord’s. Babar summons Ali Usman for the first over of spin n this innings and Atkinson cashes in with a few singles.
43rd over: England 153-6 (Lawrence 35, Atkinson 0) This partnership may have brought only three runs, but there’s a pattern to it: Lawrence takes a comfy single off the first ball, leaving Atkinson to poke and prod at the rest. Mohammad Ali produces one of those nippy leg-breaks, beating Atkinson’s bat by about a foot and making poor old Rizwan wince again. But then Atkinson manages a leg-bye, and Lawrence, presented with two bonus balls, can’t do anything with them as Ali goes for length first and then a wily bouncer to keep Lawrence at that end.
England lead by 333, which, as Mike Atherton points out, is what Graham Gooch once scored here on his own . I was there as a wide-eyed young correspondent and so, rather more significantly, was Atherton, as Gooch’s opening partner.
42nd over: England 151-6 (Lawrence 34, Atkinson 0) Abbas is still on, gasping to get that five-for. As he targets the off bail, Atkinson struggles to keep him at bay but just about manages it with a couple of shaky prods. When Abbas changes his line in search of an LBW, Atkinson misses, twice, but each time there’s enough bounce to rule out an appeal.
The weather has got worse again. It’s not dark yet but it’s getting there.
41st over: England 150-6 (Lawrence 33, Atkinson 0) Gus Atkinson was England's third-best batter in the first innings, after Smith and Jordan Cox. Lawrence acknowledges this by taking a single right away, trusting him to face five balls from Mohammad Ali. Atkinson plays and misses once or twice before playing a handsome straight push, so straight that it hits the stumps at the other end and brings no run.
40th over: England 149-6 (Lawrence 32, Atkinson 0) That was a good riposte from Abbas, who had just been belted for four by Smith.
WICKET! Smith c Masood b Abbas 7 (England 149-6)
One more for Abbas! Smith picks the wrong ball to flick to leg. It climbs off a length and pops up off the inside edge to give Shan Masood a simple catch at square leg.
39th over: England 142-5 (Lawrence 29, Smith 3) Smith almost perishes, edging Mohammad Ali just short of Babar Azam at first slip. Ali bowls a no-ball, called by the umpire next to him. Smith plays his first good shot, a glide for two, though it’s a bit too meaty for that to be the mot juste . But then he has a waft at a wide one, not meaty at all. In these conditions, you get …
38th over: England 139-5 (Lawrence 29, Smith 1) As Abbas trundles in again, Smith gets off the mark with a thick inside edge. With Rizwan standing up, Lawrence is confined to barracks. Abbas induces him to play and miss outside off and then tries to get him stumped down leg, but Lawrence stays in his crease.
Abbas, by the way, has now taken 14 wickets in two Tests at Lord’s at an average of about 12. He has three four-fors but hasn’t made the honours board yet, so he may be itching to take three of these last five wickets.
37th over: England 138-5 (Lawrence 29, Smith 0) Lawrence goes down the track to Mohammad Ali … and takes a ball in the ribs. He shrugs it off, but he may have to avoid coughing or laughing for the next fortnight. Ali’s next ball beats Lawrence’s defensive prod and raps Rizwan on the finger. Lawrence decides there’s no point prodding. He goes down the track again twice more, first slog-slicing for four, then playing a cover mow for six ! That’s the first six of the match from anyone whose name is not Jofra.
36th over: England 128-5 (Lawrence 19, Smith 0) Here’s Jamie Smith, who emerged from a bad patch to make 61 in the first innings, still the highest score in the match.
WICKET! Brook c Rizwan b Abbas 34 (England 128-5)
Abbas is sedate for a seam bowler, but now he produces a ball that fizzes like a fast leg-break. It’s too good to bother Brook but a beast for Rizwan, who takes a nasty blow on the heel of his hand. (To add insult to injury, Dinesh Karthik comes up with some clips showing that Rizwan has been taking his eye off the ball at moments like this, whereas Jamie Smith and Tom Blundell have watched it into their gloves.) Brook, unruffled, sees a half-volley and strokes it past Abbas for four. But then Abbas and Rizwan strike back – some nip away from Abbas, a nick from Brook, and a fine reflex catch from Rizwan.
35th over: England 124-4 (Brook 30, Lawrence 19) Babar makes a bowling change – Khurram off, Mohammad Ali on. He’s been pretty good here, removing Brook in the first innings and Joe Root in this one. But now he presents Brook with a freebie on his pads, duly flicked away for four. That takes England’s lead past 300: it’s 304, and may well be heading for 400.
34th over: England 119-4 (Brook 25, Lawrence 19) As Mohammad Abbas goes too full, Brook clips again, but only for a single. Abbas and Babar try to get the ball changed, without success. Ian Ward wonders if the ball has got wet and lost some of its ability to “bite into the surface”.
Abbas beats Lawrence with a length ball that holds its line outside off, then keeps him quiet with a couple more in the same postcode. That’s the place to bowl to him, and the place most Test seamers bowl most of the time, which explains why he has largely struggled in Tests so far.
33rd over: England 118-4 (Brook 24, Lawrence 19) Brook, facing Khurram, is himself again, flicking a hard-run two and clipping a single. Lawrence again adds a four with a well-struck pull, followed by another with a well-timed push down the ground. Is this the real Dan Lawrence standing up?
32nd over: England 107-4 (Brook 21, Lawrence 11) Brook faces Mo Abbas, apparently for the first time today. With Rizwan standing up, Brook covers his stumps, risking that LBW, backing himself to connect with his whips and flicks to leg. His next run does come on the on side, but it’s a mishit, an attempted cut that ends up as a thick inside edge.
31st over: England 106-4 (Brook 20, Lawrence 11) Khurram to Brook again, with Rizwan standing back: another appeal for LBW, not given, too high. Brook, raring to go on the attack, stands a yard outside his crease and takes another step forward as Khurram lets the ball go, but all this intent just brings him a single to fine leg. Lawrence too goes down the track and gets a single. Brook picks up the third single in a row. Khurram finds some swing, and then doesn’t, which allows Lawrence to produce his signature dish, the clip to midwicket.
30th over: England 99-4 (Brook 18, Lawrence 6) Abbas resumes and Lawrence is happy to defend for now. On the England balcony, Joe Root looks on wearing a hoodie, alongside Sarah Taylor, who’s in a training top and sunglasses.
The batters put in a slightly belated appearance. Nasser wonders if England will be more aggressive now and it’ll be back to Bazball. For Brook and Lawrence, I’m not sure Bazball ever went away.
Still, Babar Azam has a smile on his face as he leads his team out again. “It feels like the umpires in this series in particular have been very keen to get on with the game,” says Nasser Hussain. “And the groundstaff … so fair play to them.”
For England, 99-4 isn’t great – but a lead of 279 is. Pakistan’s scores in this series so far have been 171, 135 and 110. And the Lord’s pitch, always tricky for batters these days, has now turned treacherous. When CricViz gives England an 84pc chance of a win, it may be erring on the side of understatement.
It has stopped raining, Nasser reports. The wind must have whisked that shower away.
A camera finds the flag of St George. It’s swinging in the rain, so there must be a strong wind too.
That mini-session lasted 38 minutes and brought 18 runs, one wicket, some lavish movement and a bit of horribly uneven bounce. The man to go was Emilio Gay, undone by a grubber from Mohammad Abbas, for 31.
Mid-30th over: England 99-4 (Brook 18, Lawrence 6) Abbas continues, with Rizwan standing up to the stumps even though he took a blow on his shoulder a few minutes ago. Lawrence plays a push down the ground for two. And after a couple of dots, the umpires take the players off.
29th over: England 97-4 (Brook 18, Lawrence 4) This over is a collector’s item: a maiden from Khurram to Brook. There’s a ball that jags past the bat, far too good to take the edge, and another one, clearly going down the leg side, which raps Brook on the pad and somehow induces Babar Azam to go for a review.
Thanks Jim and afternoon everyone. Whether it’s a good afternoon, we shall see!
27th over: England 97-4 (Brook 18, Lawrence 4) Brook whips a four past mid on and then drops to one knee to flash a drive past gully for another boundary. He gets two off the last ball into the leg side to make it ten off the over. England are going to chance their arm and it’s not a bad option at all, especially for the patient (English) punters in the crowd.
Righto, Tim de Lisle is here to call the next passage of play before the rain comes back. Thanks for your company and rain delay fortitude. Goodbye!
26th over: England 87-4 (Brook 8, Lawrence 4) Perhaps because the pitch is playing like a junkyard Lawrence decides to have a heave ho – he aims a wild swing down the ground and gets a meaty edge over the slips for four!
25th over: England 83-4 (Brook 8, Lawrence 0) A maiden to Shazhad who nearly manages to undo Brook with another scuttler but fortunately for Harry Cherrington it wasn’t on the timbers. Has the pitch been sweating under the covers and given up the ghost? It suddenly looks unplayable.
24th over: England 83-3 (Brook 8, Lawrence 0) A wicket maiden to Abbas, Dan Lawrence arrives in the middle with his black under shirt protruding and leaves the final two balls alone. He’s the other England batter under a bit of pressure to make an impression. Pakistan have their collective dander up – England’s lead is 263 runs.
WICKET! Emilio Gay lbw b Mohammad Abbas 31 (England 83-4)
Gone! There was nowt much Gay could do about it either, Abbas gets one to scuttle along the deck at shin height and it thunks into Gay’s back shin. There’s no point in reviewing as it is stone dead and Gay has to depart. You feel for him, he battled yesterday and has been undone by a grubber.
23rd over: England 83-3 (Gay 31, Brook 8) Let’s play! Harry Brook is taking guard in the Lord’s gloom and Khurram Shahzad is at the top of his mark. It’s a watchful start from Brook and Gay who exchange singles and then Brook lets four dots go outside off stump. It’s tricky conditions out there and this could well be a crucial passage in Emilio Gay’s nascent England Test career.
It’s stopped again! This is fun isn’t it. Isn’t it?
There could be play in five minutes people.
The players are in their whites and can be seen warming up on the outfield. This is not a drill – cricket might well break out in North London in just over ten minutes!
Ah the hopeful official updates. As the late, great Dolly Parton sang – Here You Come Again:
Just when I’d begun to get myself together
And wrap my heart ‘round your little finger
IF no further rain play will start at 14:15
No sooner was there an official update that play was due to begin at 2pm thanks to the rapid drainage system at Lord’s… then the heavens gaped open once more and it is currently bucketing again.
The weather is toying with us! The covers are now coming off and the groundstaff are even re-painting the crease lines. Stand by your beds.
Ah, the covers are being hauled back on, it is raining again. Michael Hann’s sigh of relief gusts over Primrose Hill.
“Rain? RAIN? Eee, lad - tha doesn’t know tha’s born.”
“When I were 16 - SIXTEEN! - I oughta been doing my GCSE revision, but I watched the cricket on BBC2. And what did I find? Phil DeFreitas bowling TWO balls and then nowt all day. And in those days, there were no socials or owt and we just had to wait for Tony Lewis to disappoint us in front of a drop splattered window. You kids today, don’t know you’re born...” etc.
I’ve written about this before too Matthew – 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.
Like a toddler taking a Paw Patrol sticker off a poorly knee - the covers are being tentatively peeled away at Lord’s.
Now then! A message from on high – God proclaims ECB Comms Guru Chris Kerr sends a Whatsapp:
“If no further rain, pitch inspection 13:15”
If is doing some particularly heavy lifting I fear but we will say our prayers to Chris/God/any higher power.
John Harrington sends in this lovely note:
“James, with rumours of Test cricket making a return to terrestrial television, I have been thinking back to those halcyon days when the likes of Peter West had to fill hours of screen time while the British weather did its thing. If it is any consolation, on average, London has lower rainfall in August than Paris, Berlin, Florence, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Nassau, Acapulco, Miami, Noo Yawk, Kingston [Jamaica], Dallas and whatever Donald Trump is currently calling Montreal.
Monty Python pretty much hit the nail on the head with their sketch about the 1972 eclipse of the sun.
Lord knows what the Septics thought of this sketch, but as it was only on a vinyl record (“Monty Python’s Previous Record”) rather than a TV episode, it is entirely possible no one in the USA has ever heard this sketch. I am not sure many people in the UK have, either, but it was one of only about three LPs in the Sixth Form break-out* room in 1972 at Abbs Cross School, Hornchurch, so there’s about 30 or so of my former classmates who might remember it, although based on my experience at school reunions, I am the only person who remembers this sort of trivial nonsense.”
Trivial nonsense? I’ll hear nothing of the sort John!
Peter Salmon rightly slams this one into the rain delay mixer:
I’m not crying it’s just been raining on my face”
Hello to the OBO surname approved Christopher Edge:
“Surely there’s got to be a mention of Saint Etienne’s Hobart Paving for combining surreal rain-infused imagery alongside practical instructions to England’s slip cordon:
Here’s hoping the Elvis tears at Lord’s dry up soon…”
Nothing happening at Lord’s I’m afraid, apart from the small matter that it is absolutely splooshing it down. That is in fact music to the (discerning) ears of Michael Hann who sends in this Amis esque (Amissian?) short story:
“Hello James, my American partner is currently staying with me, and last night – in warm sunshine on Primrose Hill – she unexpectedly expressed an interest in watching international cricket, since she had heard there was a match at Lord’s. I immediately went online and found, incredibly, there were some seats left on the Lord’s website, and duly paid £180 for two of them, caught in the excitement of showing this majestic sport to someone new.
I only checked the weather forecast after buying the tickets. Now I am in the position of praying for no play at all so I can get a refund for my own stupidity.
In that spirit I absolutely cannot recommend Dry the Rain by Beta Band for your rainy playlist.”
Our very own Luke McLaughlin is getting into the soggy swing of things:
“Sticking with 90s Dad Rock rain-related tunes…”
He’s alluding to my Travis infused preamble and no I will NOT hear a bad word sad against Fran and the lads. You hear?
“Hopefully the fans will get this later?”
Gah. Simon then updates a few seconds later to say it is hammering down now at Lord’s. Time to get stuck into his piece on Azan Awais then:
Related: Azan Awais offers Pakistan ray of hope amid their second Test gloom
Simon pops up again from Lord’s to give an encouraging/not at all encouraging update. No rainbows in prospect just yet:
It is CURRENTLY NOT RAINING! But you can always tell how optimistic the ground staff are about the near future by how busy they get when the rain stops, and they are currently not at all busy. Some gentle squidgeeing is taking place.”
Righto, I’m going to hunt down some coffee and I’ll be back in a bit to sift through your suggestions for rain related genius. I’ve already done Andie MacDowell in FWAAF so you can’t have that. Sorry.
It’s the most annoying kind of rainfall. Only just more than no rain. Lazy rainfall, the kind that can’t really be arsed to get out of its fluffy cloud of a weekend. Parsing the rain radar it looks like there might be an hour or so of afternoon dryness, but it’ll largely fall between 1-2pm so will probably be spent having lunch. It’ll then get heavier for as long as it takes for everyone to finally give up. On the plus side, I’ve ordered some wine.”
Stef B has been in touch to lament the weather but does suggest we have a communal listen to Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude. About time someone brought a touch of class to things round here:
Please do send me your favourite rain/weather related songs, lyrics, books, films, quotes, scenes etc
Related: Archer illuminates fading summer as Pakistan’s marzipan men melt away | Barney Ronay
Catch up with yesterday’s action with Ali Martin’s report:
Related: Olé for Robinson as England take firm control of Lord’s Test against Pakistan
The rain shouldn’t stop England winning this match and taking the series with one game still to play in Birmingham.
Joe Root’s side are 260 runs ahead with seven second innings wickets in hand. The forecast for later today and tomorrow is better, there should be plenty of opportunity for England to secure a first series win in 18 months. Gulp .
Why does it always rain on me? Is it because England have Pakistan 81-3?
I’m afraid it is going to be a severely rain affected day three at Lord’s and the forecast is particularly grim, Rowan Atkinson’s Blackadder might describe it as wetter than a platypus at a private prep school. Something like that anyway.
We’ve had news from on high (the ECB bods rather than God, though it would be useful to get a steer from the biggun) that the start of play is ‘Officially Delayed’. Well, indeed.
The covers are on and will be for the foreseeable, any updates I’ll bring to you toot suite. Until then we’ll just have to while away the hours in trusty OBO rain delay fashion.
On a day when the Lord’s pitch went from tricky for batting to downright treacherous, Lawrence was the star player. He scored 50 not out off only 66 balls and made batting look easier than Harry Brook did, which is no mean feat. For Pakistan, the beacon in the gloom was Mohammad Abbas, who bowled a tireless spell, grabbed the big wicket of Brook and gave himself a chance of finally taking the five-for that will put him on the honours board, up where he belongs.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · James Wallace (earlier) and Tim de Lisle (later). Published 29 Aug 2026, 05:45 pm.
