Only the kind of contrivance that 20 years ago in South Africa gave cricket a bad name can salvage this dismal Test match now.
Just 10.2 overs were possible on the fourth morning before the rain swept in, taking the total for the match to 96.2 – barely the equivalent of a full day. And so the second Test between England and Pakistan will end in a watery draw, unless the captains get funky with forfeitures and declarations.
It won’t happen, of course, and not merely because the only previous instance of a Test captain forfeiting an innings – Hansie Cronje against Nasser Hussain’s England at Centurion in January 2000 – became associated with Cronje’s shady involvement with bookmakers.
Rory Burns fell for a duck as England finally began batting on day four of the second Test
Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi celebrates with teammates after getting Burns out after four balls
With a Test series on the line, and England still grateful to have emerged victorious from a tight spot in Manchester, the last day of this soggy farce will be about jockeying for position ahead of Friday’s finale. Avoid defeat in that game, and England will have won their first Test series against Pakistan since 2010.
But the jockeying will only be possible if the weather behaves itself. Should there be 98 deliveries or fewer on Sunday, this will go down as the shortest five-day Test on English soil, beating the rainy 677-ball draw between these sides at Lord’s in 1987. If nothing else, that would be in keeping with this strangest of summers.
It was perversely typical that no sooner had the officials abandoned play for the day around 3.50pm, than the Ageas Bowl spied its first patch of blue sky since Azhar Ali won the toss on Thursday morning. And if the unexpected sunshine could hardly be blamed on the umpires, then their general reluctance to get this game going has done cricket little credit.
Assuming play gets underway this morning, England will resume on seven for one in reply to Pakistan’s 236, with Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley given the chance to hone their techniques against the tourists’ formidable attack. Both were happy still to be there after five overs from Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Abbas that tested them to the limits before rain began falling at noon.
Mohammad Rizwan kept batting for just over five overs before Stuart Broad got him caught out
Rory Burns was less fortunate. After edging Afridi’s opening delivery just in front of Asad Shafiq at second slip, he was forced to play at a beauty three balls later. This time the edge carried, and Shafiq held on.
Having averaged 46 against West Indies, Burns has now made 4, 10 and 0 against Pakistan – a reflection of the step up in class, and a reminder that opening the batting in this country remains among world cricket’s toughest challenges.
Batting consultant Jonathan Trott stressed that England must be focused ahead of third Test
‘There’s not much he can do when you get that early on,’ said England’s batting consultant Jonathan Trott. ‘It was unfortunate, but it was always going to be a tough little period with the weather coming. He is working hard. He just needs time in the middle for it to click for him.
‘It is important we don’t just see tomorrow as a day to bat out, and walk away with the draw and be 1-0 up. There is still work to be done against the new ball to make sure we are in a good place for the third Test.’
Earlier, Pakistan added another 13 to the 223 for nine they had been marooned on since Friday evening. Mohammad Rizwan flayed a pair of off-side boundaries off James Anderson, before – inevitably, perhaps – the final wicket fell to Stuart Broad.
England’s Zak Crawley (left) and Dom Sibley walk off the field after rain stopped play
Aiming to hit him through the leg side, Rizwan provided a skyer to Crawley at extra cover off the leading edge, ending an industrious innings of 72 which helped his side add 60 for the last two wickets.
It was also Broad’s fourth wicket of the innings, and his 26th of a golden summer at an average of just 12. It’s possible no one in the country has enjoyed lockdown as much as he has, despite an inauspicious start when the selectors saw fit to leave him out of the opening game against West Indies.
Since then, he has bowled like a man possessed, nailing a fuller length and trapping 10 of his victims leg-before. He has, in his own words, been ‘relentless’, and now has 511 Test wickets, just eight shy of Courtney Walsh, who lies sixth in the all-time list. At his current rate of progress, you wouldn’t bet against him pulling level before the series is over.
Incredibly, Broad’s bowling average of 27.68 is now at the lowest point of his 142-match career. The impending conclusion to this Covid-hit Test summer is coming too soon.
Legend Wasim Akram has called upon England to return the favour by touring Pakistan
Meanwhile, fast-bowling legend Wasim Akram has become the latest prominent Pakistani to call for England to repay his countrymen for braving the pandemic with a reciprocal tour.
England have not been to Pakistan since the end of 2005 because of security concerns, and are next due to play an away series against them in 2022-23. That is set to take place in the UAE, but Wasim said: ‘You boys owe Pakistan cricket, and the country, a lot.
‘Pakistan have been here almost two and half months in the biosecure set-up. So if everything goes well, England should tour Pakistan. I promise you they’ll get looked after on and off the field there, and every game will be a packed house.’
Wasim was too polite to say that it probably won’t rain, either.