England v Pakistan: second Test, day one – live!

“Fawad Alam plays his first Test for 11 years,” says Simon Wilde of The Sunday Times on Twitter. “He’s sat out the last 88 Tests, so should be fully rested.”

Sure enough, Shadab Khan gives way to Fawad Alam, as Azhar feels that one leggie will do, and Zak Crawley stands in for Ben Stokes. It’s Sam Curran rather than Mark Wood who replaces Jofra Archer, so England are willing to sacrifice velocity for better batting – though Curran does bring a touch of Stokes’s ability to make things happen. “Feels like it could swing,” says Joe Root. It may need to, given England’s lack of pace.

Azhar Ali does a Stokes and decides to bat first, even though the pitch has some grass on it. He and Joe Root remember to bump elbows, a social ritual that always seems to make people smile.

Morning everyone and welcome to the second Test. When Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler pulled off their thrilling heist on Saturday, they secured something that has become almost unheard-of for international cricketers: a Sunday off. Now England’s players and their Pakistani guests may be about to enjoy a few more breathers. In the Met Office forecast for this match at Southampton, every one of the five days carries a yellow warning. The South of England is so humid that we may see the first recorded case of steam going into Jimmy Anderson’s ears.

There will be rain, and it looks like being torrential. But there should be sunny spells too. It feels like a day for bowling at the ground where Ben Stokes fluffed his lines by opting to bat in the first Test of the summer. England’s Test team, who have a 100-per-cent record at Old Trafford this year, have a 0-per-cent record at the Ageas Bowl. It would be good for the game if they could maintain that. Wherever your allegiance lies, 1-1 with one to play is a lot more fun than 2-0. This Pakistan side, with their spirit and spark, hardly deserved to leave Manchester empty-handed.

As his father is unwell, England will have to do without Stokes for the first time since the Lord’s Test against India in 2018, when Chris Woakes borrowed his cape and belted a hundred. Stokes’s place almost certainly goes to Zak Crawley, who was the fall guy for the last two Tests when Superman was ruled unfit to bowl. The consolation for Crawley is that he will be returning to the scene of his most commanding performance for England, 76 against West Indies a month ago. If England are still rotating, Mark Wood or Sam Curran – or even the highly promising Ollie Robinson – should come in for Jofra Archer. But then if they really believed in rotation, they would have brought Jack Leach in for Dom Bess, and given Anderson a game off.

Pakistan are expected to stick with ten of the XI who made the running at Old Trafford. Shadab Khan, whose counter-punching 45 played a big part in that, may have to make way for Fawad Alam, who’s a rare bird in Pakistan cricket having reached the age of 34 with only three Test caps. He would stiffen the batting and be a second left-hander to go with Shan Masood, the man whose 156 dwarfed all the other scores on the doors. Play starts at 11am, all being well, with the toss at 10.30.