10.30am update: The rain in north London hasn't stopped since the players trooped off the field yesterday afternoon. At times it has been very heavy indeed. Currently (looks out of window) it is just a persistent drizzle. More news on when play is likely to get under way as we get it. In the meantime, you could read Mike Selvey's report on yesterday's play, where he describes Tillakaratne Dilshan's 193, "one of the greatest Test innings played in adversity – team and personal – that this ground has seen". Or you could read Andy Bull's report on yesterday's play, where he describes the match-fixing allegations that dogged Dilshan despite his innings. Or David Hopps, on David Saker's reaction to England's bowling display at the home of cricket.
For an up-to-date guide to weather conditions at Lord's right now, have a look at this webcam of the Abbey Road Beatles-promoted zebra crossing, which is just around the corner.
10.50am update: The windscreen wipers on the cars driving past Abbey Road stopped swish-swish-swishing about 10 minutes ago, the umbrellas are down and over at Lord's the pitch has just been inspected. More news, as ever, when I get it.
11am update: There's going to be an inspection in half an hour – that's 11.30am for the less mathematically inclined – after which there might, weather obviously permitting, be a chance of sneaking some action in before lunch. "As a North Londoner I know the sun nearly always shines there," writes Keith Flett, "but apropos the moaning around this time last week could I just say that the weather in Cardiff at the moment is currently fine and there has been no rain overnight..."
11.30am update: Still no umbrellas or windscreen wipers at Abbey Road, but David Gower is reporting "a few drops" at Lord's. Everything is extremely soggy, even if it's not getting very much soggier right now, and play is not, we're told, imminent.
11.45am update: Official: there'll be no action before lunch. But: they'll be eating early. Lunch will be taken at 12.30pm, with no possibility of play before then. If the weather holds off (and the Met Office suggests we'll see the last of today's rain in the next hour or so) play will start a little after 1pm.
LUNCH
Twenty20, Tokyo-style
12.30pm Hello, Rob here. You may remember that, during Friday's OBO, Mark Hiratsuka told us about an upcoming Twenty20 charity match in Tokyo. Here's a nice picture, taken after that game on Saturday. It was a triumph, despite or because of beer being banned from the ground.
12.42pm If play starts at 1.10pm, as planned, we will have a three-hour afternoon session and a total of 83 overs in the day. Play can go on until 7.30pm. With that in mind, I'm off to buy a lifetime's supply of caffeine.
A bit of lunchtime viewing. Some great clips from the (moust)Ashes of 1989, 1991 and 1993. Is it possible to get high from watching a square cut?
The players are out. Okay. Steven Finn has four balls of his 25th over remaining. There are potentially 180 overs left in this game, so a draw is far from a David Brent band.
Happy birthday to the magnificent Aleem Dar, on third umpire duties in this match. He is 43 today.
Football for dummies I know the OBO is normally a football-free zone, and quite right too, but bear with me a second. I'm trying to organise a semi-regular game of 5-a-side football for the ageing hero in London, and we are a bit short of numbers. Anyone fancy it? We don't have a definite venue yet, but it'll probably be in Old Street, Latimer Road or Kings Cross. It won't be especially competitive, so if you are half decent, it's probably not worth replying. In fact, anyone who displays anything resembling competence will be whipped off the email list straight away and forced to go door-to-door. You have to be at least one of the following: unfit, useless, over 35. And if you are all three of those, where have you been all my life? If you're interested, send me an email. Ta.
103rd over: Sri Lanka 374-3 (Jayawardene 40, Samaraweera 3) Not a great start for England. Finn's first couple of deliveries are on leg stump, and Samaraweera tucks the second off the pads for a couple.
104th over: Sri Lanka 379-3 (Jayawardene 44, Samaraweera 4) Mahela Jayawardene eases his first ball of the day, from Chris Tremlett, through mid off for three. He needs 57 runs to become only the second touring batsman to make three Test hundreds at Lord's. The first was the brilliant Indian Dilip Vengsarkar, in 1982 and 1986. There's a hint of swing later in the over, although nothing alarming. In theory this should be a good time to bowl, with the overcast conditions and a pitch that has been undercover for almost 24 hours. "I have just watched the first few minutes of the video of Robin Smith square cutting the ball," pants Niall Smith. "I am wondering though which is a more beautiful stroke, Robin Smith's square cut or Roger Federer's backhand. I think it's fair to put them in the same category don't you?"
105th over: Sri Lanka 379-3 (Jayawardene 44, Samaraweera 4) Finn continues, which is a slight surprise; I assumed they would turn to Broad. His line is too wide of off stump in that over, an inevitable overcompensation I suppose, and Jayawardene is able to leave all bar one delivery. A maiden. "It should be familiar to any OBOer: Monday suffering and gloom," says Guy Hornsby. "Like the Ashes in the 90s. The unrelenting rain of the last 24 hours hasn't helped either. But I deserve little sympathy for the sore neck and head I now experience from Saturday night's festivities. At a friend's 40th (in 70s fancy dress, all of which I already owned, make of that what you will) I decided it'd be a good idea to pick up the birthday boy and whirl them around. We've all run round the broom in the garden when we were kids, so it's not amazingly difficult to work out what happened next. Still, I've had fun explaining away the nice graze across my forehead to work colleagues today. Schadenfreude and all that." Oh dear.
106th over: Sri Lanka 379-3 (Jayawardene 44, Samaraweera 4) A grotesqeue delivery from Tremlett seams away very sharply off the pitch, but it was too short in the first place so there was no danger of any harm to Samaraweera's outside edge. That ball is sandwiched by two poor deliveries down the leg side. England haven't started well. The seamers must be desperate to get out of Lord's and just write this off as a bad job.
107th over: Sri Lanka 390-3 (Jayawardene 49, Samaraweera 5) Jayawardene is beaten by a fine delivery from Finn, a yorker that doesn't miss off stump by very much. England's seamers have bowled some very good balls in this match; the problem has been the unusual number of poor deliveries. And there's yet another one from Finn, down the leg side and helped on its way for four byes by the diving Matt Prior. That brings up a half-century for Extras, who is within 25 of a Test-best. An expensive over concludes when Jayawardene edges low through the slips for four. "1989 – Trent Bridge," says Matt Emerson. "Whoever thought an opening pair of Tim Curtis and Martyn Moxon was a good idea?? Wisden says that 'Gooch had been omitted to rediscover his form with his county'. We really are living through a purple patch at the moment… imagine if we had Ted Dexter as Chairman of Selectors now." Moxon was a pretty talented player, wasn't he? I vaguely remember him being described as "the best technical batsman" in England by one of the BBC commentators during that game.
108th over: Sri Lanka 393-3 (Jayawardene 49, Samaraweera 8) Samaraweera is beaten by a storming delivery from Tremlett, a lifting legcutter, the sort Jason Gillespie used to make. Samaraweera then pings yet another errant delivery through midwicket for three. "I'm here – nervously following Jayawardene's progress," says Ranil Dissanayake. "I find it really frustrating that so many fans question him because he has a much better home average than a touring one. His home average is above 60 FFS! If he was equally good away, he'd be better than Tendulkar. I think an average of 43 away, especially considering how few Tests he's played in each type of foreign condition, is pretty damn good." I do think it's legitimate to point out his modest records in Australia and South Africa, but still, he's a genius, and an all-time great. Nobody seriously disputes that, do they?
WICKET! Sri Lanka 394-4 (Jayawardene c Cook b Finn 49) A big breakthrough for England, with Jayawardene gone for 49. That was a good delivery from Finn, a lifter that turned Jayawardene round and flew off the edge to third slip. So Finn has three of the four wickets. Even when he is bowling poorly, he finds a way to get people out. It's not the worst quality to have.
109th over: Sri Lanka 394-4 (Samaraweera 9, P Jayawardene 0) One Jayawardene replaces another. "As the weather has been better suited to ducks let's hope the Sri Lanka batsmen can oblige with a few," says Ian Copestake. "That's not even remotely funny, I know, but I blame Capello." I'm surprised nobody has highlighted his role in the Britain's Got Talent controversy.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 394-5 (Samaraweera c Prior b Tremlett 9) Two wickets in three balls. Samaraweera has a leaden-footed drive at a full, swinging delivery from Tremlett, and the ball zips off the edge for Matt Prior to take a decent low catch. That was well bowled by Tremlett, much fuller than anything else he's sent down today, but it was also a dismal stroke.
110th over: Sri Lanka 394-5 (P Jayawardene 0, Maharoof 0) A wicket maiden from Tremlett. England might steal a first-innings lead here. Sri Lanka currently trail by 92. "I happily concede your point on Australia," says Ranil Dissanayake, "but Mahela played his last Test in South Africa in 2002! He's improved immensely as a player since then. Of course, as I type this, he gets out, but my point stands..." Ah, fair point about South Africa. Why haven't they played there for nine years?
111th over: Sri Lanka 397-5 (P Jayawardene 1, Maharoof 2) Maharoof inside edges Finn through square leg for a couple. Finn's consistency of line has improved in the short spell since that wicket, and he beats Maharoof with a gorgeous leg-cutter later in the over. "A public service announcement from Lord's," says Andy Bull. "After tea today adults can get in for £12 and under-16s can get in for free. That is all." No it's not. There's always a catch somewhere. You know how it works: a public service announcement one minute, a simpering plea for a backrub with extra lotion the next.
112th over: Sri Lanka 400-5 (P Jayawardene 4, Maharoof 2) A sharp single off Tremlett brings up Sri Lanka's 400. They know how to get runs on this ground. In their last two Tests here they topped 500. They might struggle to make 500 today, however, as the ball is doing a bit (or, perhaps, England are giving it a chance to do a bit). Tremlett moves another good delivery past Maharoof's outside edge. "I am not sure if Martyn Moxon was the best technical batsmen of his generation - but he was one of the unluckiest," says John Culley. "Against New Zealand in 1987-88, he swept three runs off the middle of the bat only for the umpire to signal leg byes. Moxon was dismissed for 99 – his highest Test score." Another man who had a highest Test score of 99 was, of course, Shane Warne. Oh, Shane.
113th over: Sri Lanka 403-5 (P Jayawardene 6, Maharoof 2) Jayawardene inside edges an attempted pull at Finn, and Prior does very well to save four. England could and probably should clean up fairly quickly here. Anderson would have a field day. It's not hooping round corners, but it is doing enough to make it very awkward for an Asian lower-order batting line up. "What's all this about a 'Britain's Got Talent controversy'?" says Mac Millings. "I used to live there, so I know. It hasn't. That's not even remotely funny, I know, but I blame Ian Copestake Capello." Millings, surely even you are not too indolent to type 'Britain's Got Talent controversy' into Google?
114th over: Sri Lanka 404-5 (P Jayawardene 6, Maharoof 2) Jayawardene wears a nasty rising delivery from Tremlett on the elbow. The next ball is down the leg side, just the 953rd such ball in this match, and the besieged Matt Prior can't stop yet another bye. He has been given an indecent workout in this game. "Did you notice in that 1989 Trent Bridge Test that Curtis and Moxon only opened the first innings for England?" says Neil Withers. "Goldenhair Gower then took skippers privilege and promoted himself to open, scoring a captain's knock of – errr – 5. The Wisden report doesn't mention anything about it. Can you use Statsguru to find out how many times 1st innings openers have been relegated to the middle order? And while we're all getting misty eyed about Robin Smith, he came in during the second over with the score at 1-2! What a guy..." Moxon either asked to drop down or they decided to drop him down; it wasn't injury related (I don't think). And Gower lost his off stump padding up, if my memory hasn't been ravaged. It seemed quite amusing at the time. As for Statsguru, I'm not sure how you'd manage that.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 409-6 (Maharoof LBW b Broad 2) Stuart Broad strikes in his first over. That was a fine delivery, an off-cutter that came back a long way to trap Maharoof in front of off and middle. Maharoof tried to drag his bat down but he was too late. He considered a review before eventually deciding against it. Quite right, too, because that was clearly out.
115th over: Sri Lanka 409-6 (Jayawardene 11, Herath 0) "That Robin Smith video," says David Hartman. "The gentleman seems to be under the impression he is playing baseball."
116th over: Sri Lanka 414-6 (Jayawardene 12, Herath 4) Graeme Swann replaces Chris Tremlett. The new batsman Herath inside edges a couple round the corner and then slaps a hopeless drive in the air but just wide of the fielder at extra cover. This shouldn't take Swann too long.
117th over: Sri Lanka 419-6 (Jayawardene 17, Herath 4) Broad has a big shout for LBW against Jayawardene turned down by Rod Tucker. Andrew Strauss decides not to review, suggesting it might have been going over, and Hawkeye confirms that was the case. Rod Tucker has had a very good game. Jayawardene drives crisply through mid-off for four later in the over. Meanwhile, unsurprisingly, my memory of Trent Bridge 1989 was completely wrong: Lord Selvey tells us that Mike Atherton (who made his debut in that game, facing his first ball with England minus 12 for two, I think) says David Gower just decided he would open.
118th over: Sri Lanka 425-6 (Jayawardene 23, Herath 4) Jayawardene gets down on one knee and slog-sweeps Swann beautifully for six. "Afternoon," says Eric Stephenson. "May I join you in wishing Mr Dar many happy returns. Gosh his mum must be proud. Has he ever been wrong about anything? I for one would happily appoint him head of the judiciary, IMF and World Health Organisation without any hesitation. What a guy." A few years ago, I thought there was about as much chance of finding an umpire as good as or better than Simon Taufel as there was of finding a tennis player as good as or better than Roger Federer.
119th over: Sri Lanka 432-6 (Jayawardene 29, Herath 5) England will do well to force victory from here, but it's far from impossible. There are relevant precedents, not least this one. They need the weather to stay decent, of course, and they also need rid of Jayawardene. He is batting breezily at the moment, and crunches Broad through midwicket for two before tucking another boundary to fine leg. "Rather than googling something for someone else, why not just direct them to this helpful website?" says David Heaton. "I heartily recommend it for all those people who find it more convenient to bother you with their question rather than google it for themselves."
120th over: Sri Lanka 432-6 (Jayawardene 29, Herath 5) Swann spits a good one past the left-handed Herath, who then tries to leave a delivery that kicks up to hit him in the elbow. Swann will want to keep Herath on strike. "Didn't Robin Smith have a trial with the NY Mets at one time?" says David Horn. "What a man. I mean, what a MAN. I think we all had man love for Robin Smith before any of us knew what Man Love was. I'd want to punch him sportingly on the shoulder if I weren't afraid he'd return the gesture." It's very true. Apart from the two superhero allrounders, he might be the most loved England cricketer of modern times. He always came across a remarkably decent and uncomplicated fella. Also, that combination of physical fearlessness and mental fragility was unusual and extremely endearing; I suppose, on a personal level, I could relate to it as I wept my way through that awkward 2000th press-up every morning before school. I have no idea about the baseball link, though.
121st over: Sri Lanka 434-6 (Jayawardene 29, Herath 5) Another over, another couple of leg byes, this time when Broad swerves one down the leg side. Prior hasn't had a bad game at all yet there have been 47 byes and leg byes. Anyway, it seems David Horn wasn't the only one. "The New York Mets may have had the same thought about Robin Smith," says Matthew Bell. "I have a vague memory that he had a training session or try out with them or, for all I know, 'Britain's Got Baseball Talent' taping session with them. That would have been in the early '90s, I suppose, But the memory is frustratingly vague and a quick Google has revealed nothing more." Now you mention it, I think it might be mentioned in Smith's book, Quest For Number One, which is a fascinating discussion of the mental side of the game. Or at least it was, when I read it in the mid-90s. I don't know if it has aged well.
122nd over: Sri Lanka 442-6 (Jayawardene 29, Herath 11) Herath misses a lap sweep at Swann, prompting a huge shout for LBW. Billy Doctrove says not out, so England decide to review the decision – and replays show it actually came off the face of the bat. Which is a slight impediment to any LBW decision. So Herath survives, and he should also get two runs (they were originally given as leg byes), although that hasn't been confirmed. He celebrates his reprieve with a remarkable stroke next ball, a slog-sweep for six despite slipping over in the act of playing the shot. That was hilarious.
123rd over: Sri Lanka 448-6 (Jayawardene 29, Herath 18) Herath is starting to enjoy himself, and when Broad overpitches he slaps him jauntily over mid on for four. Broad doesn't like that, so he slips in a short ball and then has a few words, one of which may or may not be 'eff'. Herath pulls the next ball round the corner for a single and then gives Broad a few words in return. "Trent Bridge 1989," says John Marshall. "Ah, the memories. Fourteen years old, going to the Test match with my Dad. Not just a day, mind. Going to the Test match. I seem to remember that having tickets for the whole match seemed a bad idea at the end of the first day with the Aussies 300 for none. It didn't get much better. Shoddy treatment of my hero Martyn Moxon by Gower. Lord Selve is right; Gower decided in his Gowerness to open the batting in the second innings and drop Mox down the order. If memory serves then Gower was bowled shouldering arms in that graceful way of his. It was Athers debut and also Devon Malcolm's. Devon took one for 166 - his wicket being Steve Waugh for a duck in the summer when no other Englishman had been able to get Waugh out. That and the Judge were about the only bright spots. Happy days."
124th over: Sri Lanka 453-6 (Jayawardene 33, Herath 19) A stroke of luck for Herath, who slices an attempted slog sweep back over Swann's head and between mid-off and mid-on. Jayawardene then plays a gorgeous, on-the-walk drive wide of mid-on for four. This partnership is becoming a little irksome. "England played two or three one-dayers against the West Indies in New York in 1990 and the England team spent a day at the Mets, who I think offered Smith a contract or so the story goes," says John Culley. As a few of you pointed out, another England batsman called Smith spent some time with the Mets.
125th over: Sri Lanka 458-6 (Jayawardene 37, Herath 20) Good stuff from Broad, who sets Herath up with the short ball and then angles a fuller delivery past his leaden-footed waft. I like Herath's attitude, though; he's a feisty wee fella and he won't shy away from attacking Broad. He pulls him for a single, and then Jaywardene plays another wonderful drive for four, this time through midwicket. "Having met The Judge (at Arundel for Mark Nicholas's testimonial since you didn't ask), and having watched him get 90 in about 20 minutes before deliberately getting out so he could sign more autographs and net with the kids, I can confirm he thoroughly deserves man-love legend status," says Andrew Benzeval. "Plus, his tears for the great MD Marshall at Marshall's funeral showed us all that it's OK to cry. Heck, I'm welling up just thinking about it." On the subject of Robin Smith, here's a fine interview from The Wisden Cricketer last year.
126th over: Sri Lanka 461-6 (Jayawardene 39, Herath 21) Herath mows Swann for a single to bring up an excellent, counter-attacking fifty partnership from only 61 balls, and then Jayawardene misses a slog-sweep at the slider. "Residual goodwill from the Ashes (and the fact that we don't really count the World Cup) has blinded us to the dismal bowling of England's attack," says Gary Naylor. "Despite England having much the best of the bowling conditions in this match, the Lankans are up over 400 again. Likewise, the odd good ball doesn't balance out the short and wide stuff (on both sides of the wicket) that has characterised all three seamers' work. The talk about being No1 in the world will fade quickly if they carry on like this." Has it blinded us? I thought everyone acknowledged that the seamers are having a bad match?
127th over: Sri Lanka 466-6 (P Jayawardene 39, Herath 26) Finn replaces Broad, and Herath clunks a low full toss through the covers for four. Sri Lanka trail by just 20 now.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 466-7 (Herath st Prior b Swann 26) Herath's funky cameo comes to an end. He gave Swann the charge, was done in the flight and missed an attempted drive over midwicket. Prior completed a routine stumping with Herath already halfway to Baker Street.
128th over: Sri Lanka 472-7 (P Jayawardene 40, Fernando 5) I've just missed the drinks break. Bah! The new batsman Fernando blasts a square drive for four. "I'd like to see the Sri Lankans declare, just so the English lads can have a second innings," says Mike Murphy. "They'll bowl England out for about 20 as the side forgets they sometimes have to bat twice and form a picket line in the long room, leaving only the good-natured Finn and Tremlett to scratch around. SL then win the game by knocking off the 50-run deficit by the end of today." And they all lived happily ever after.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 472-8 (P Jayawardene c Swann b Finn 40) This is a brilliant catch from Graeme Swann. Jayawardene pushed at a good legcutter that took the edge and dropped to the left of second slip, where Swann took a low, diving catch with aplomb. That's a good wicket for England, because Jayawardene was playing very well. Despite all his problems, Finn is on the cusp of a five-for. In fact that's the 50th wicket of his short Test career. He's the youngest Englishman to achieve the feat.
129th over: Sri Lanka 472-8 (Fernando 5, Lakmal 0) The new batsman Lakmal takes a short ball from Finn right on the side of the helmet. That was seriously unpleasant, and in fact it has broken the helmet. While he is waiting for a new helmet – and while I take advantage of the break to sprint to the toilet – have a look at Steven Finn's strike rate.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 472-9 (Fernando c Strauss b Swann 5) Who needs Paul Collingwood? Andrew Strauss has just taken a majestic, nonchalant catch at first slip. Fernando fiddled at one that went straight on from Swann, edging it low to the left of Strauss, who stuck out his left hand and plucked it out of the air. Sensational reactions. Not quite on a par with his catch to dismiss Adam Gilchrist in 2005, but still a very special effort – especially as he has hardly ever fielded at slip to the spinner before. It's his 100th catch in Test cricket as well.
130th over: Sri Lanka 473-9 (Lakmal 0, Welegedera 1) "Trying to recruit a High School Cricket Coach as a semi-voluntary, temporary position in El Salvador," says Andrew Murgatroyd. "Starts Sept 2011, best suited for a U.K. Gap Year student, fluent in English. Could you advertise?" Advertise? When do I start? But yes, anyone who is interested can email Andrew at andrewmurgatroyd@abc-net.edu.sv.
131st over: Sri Lanka 477-9 (Lakmal 0, Welegedera 4) Finn sets Welegedera up with a few short deliveries and then pitches one up. Welegedera backs away and dumps it back over Finn's head for three. Lakmal, backing away to square leg, then wears one on the wrist. He is going to need some more treatment. "Well is it just a bad match for the bowlers?" says Gary Naylor. "Finn has talent, but a lot to learn; Tremlett has blown hot and cold over 11 years in first-class cricket and sometimes does so during a single over; and Broad averages 36 over 36 Tests, which might just get him a spot for Bangladesh. Good Ol' Swanny is still plugging away, but he needs a sharper cutting edge to work behind. The problem with good results is that they raise expectations – but rising expectations lead to raising standards too." All true. The seam attack is still developing and is arguably the weakest element of the side – that's the same for many teams around the world – but this match is in no way representative of their ability. I'd also be loath to judge Broad too much by his bowling average.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 479 (Welegedara c Broad b Swann 6) That's it. Welegedara drags Swann to deep mid on, and England lead by seven runs. Shades of The Oval 2005 in how they secured an unexpected first-innings lead with a flurry of wickets on day four. England now have about half an hour's batting before tea.
INNINGS BREAK
3.44pm You don't need to have spent four years on a couch incapable of saying anything except "the South Australia ground" to know that the third innings of a Test can often be the most dangerous. England need to be careful; although we want them to bat aggressively and set a target just after lunch tomorrow, it's important they don't get ahead of themselves. Especially as these are very good bowling conditions.
WICKET! England 0-1 (Strauss LBW b Welegedera 0) Andrew Strauss has gone second ball! He played inside the line of a lovely delivery from Welegedera that angled in and then swung away just enough to strike the flap of the back pad in front of middle and off. Strauss reviewed it, as much out of desperation as anything, but that was plumb.
1st over: England 4-1 (Cook 0, Trott 4) So nearly another wicket, with Trott edging Welegedera a fraction short of second slip. Trott then crunches a boundary down the ground. Incidentally, that's the 22nd time in Tests that Andrew Strauss has been out to a left-arm seamer. Good job India don't have any decent ones, eh? Oh. That dismissal also takes Strauss's Test average below 30 in the last 12 months. "Who do you drop from this lot to let Jimmy back in?" says Michael Duggan. "Broad, who has been expensive and toothless, or Finn, who from what I have read has been wild but taken wickets?" Finn. For the time being, the cab rank should stay as it was at the start of the summer.
2nd over: England 9-1 (Cook 3, Trott 5) The ball is swinging appreciably for both Welegedara and now Lakmal. He is trying to work Cook over with full inswingers, and there's a leg slip in place as part of a 4/5 field. Dilshan is off the field, I've just realised, because of that finger injury. So Sangakkara is in the charge again. "Naylor's comments on the seamers' performance are valid, but let's not forget the positives," says Tom Hopkins. "This has looked a pretty efficient removal of the tail, which isn't something England have always managed. From memory, back in the 90s if there was an opposition player with a single-figure average he would always (actually always) have a top score against England of at least 40." So many happy memories.
3rd over: England 9-1 (Cook 3, Trott 5) Cook defends carefully against Welegedera, and it's a maiden. England will just play safe until team, which is nine minutes away.
4th over: England 10-1 (Cook 3, Trott 5) A fairly poor over from Lakmal to Trott. In these conditions, and with only a few minutes to tea, it's vital to make the batsmen play as often as possible.
5th over: England 18-1 (lead by 25; Cook 11, Trott 5) Welegedera digs in a short ball and Cook – bitten in the first innings by the pull shot but not remotely shy – spanks it through square leg for four. He gets four from the next ball, too, with a crisp back-foot flick through midwicket. And that's tea. We have an interesting, three-hour final session to come. Simon Burnton will be with you for that.
TEA
Weather update: It's a bit gloomy. Any minute now someone might turn the floodlights on, though it would be a shame to waste the electricity while the players are taking tea, don't you think? So is Strauss fallible to left-arm seamers? Nasser Hussain says it's rubbish, and so does our very own Mike Selvey. "The left arm seamer thing has a whiff of irrelevance to it," he writes. "He is an opening batsman who in the last year has faced Aamir, Bollinger, Johnson and Welegedara with the new ball (well not Johnson actually). There are more left-arm pacemen around I reckon. He has also been dismissed around 90 times by right-arm seamers. I'm more concerned by his lack of runs."
E-mail update: Why have I just got an email with the subject "Large Button Phones for the elderly from Easiphone"? Why? Yes, I am a journalist. As such, some people might want to send the occasional press release my way. But I deal in semi-humorous columns and occasional minute-by-minute internet-based reportage. Age UK-tested big-buttoned telephones for the elderly are not really my bag.
6th over: England 22-1 (Cook 12, Trott 8) So here we go, a bumper final session ahead of us and we get under way with a fairly uneventful Lakmal over, the highlight being a nicely-timed push-off-the-pads by Trott that was stopped a foot short of the long on boundary.
7th over: England 25-1 (Cook 13, Trott 9) Welegedara going round the wicket now, to widespread befuddlement. He can no longer recreate the delivery that did for Strauss, with Nick Knight suggesting that he's doing it to create some rough. And the floodlights are on. Ish. They're on their way to being on.
8th over: England 30-1 (Cook 16, Trott 11) Also commentary box-based speculation about Sri Lanka's five-man on-side field. No decent explanations so far put forward, but we live in hope.
9th over: England 32-1 (Cook 17, Trott 12) "Surely if Welegedara is going to create rough, he is more use doing it bowling over the wicket and scuffing the pitch up outside the right-handers' off stump than going around the wicket and just duplicating the work of the right armers?" wonders Richard O'Hagan. It doesn't convince me, either. A pattern will presumably become clear...
10th over: England 35-1 (Cook 19, Trott 13) A disciplined over from Lakmal, very little width there for the batsmen, who noodle a few balls off their pads for singles.
11th over: England 41-1 (Cook 24, Trott 14) Whatever the experiment was for, it's over: Welegedara bowls over the wicket. A couple of singles result, before Cook pushes the final ball straight back down the ground for a classic four.
12th over: England 42-1 (Cook 24, Trott 15) Maharoof replaces Lakmal, with a single coming off the over. England are in no hurry here.
13th over: England 50-1 (Cook 24, Trott 19) Another bowling change, with Dilhara Fernando bringing his chubby-Glenn-Medeiros stylings to Sri Lanka's attack. He's the fastest of their bowlers, which just helps the ball to race to the boundary: two of his first three deliveries end up there, the first a leg bye.
14th over: England 55-1 (Cook 25, Trott 23) The first genuinely uncomfortable moment of the session, as Maharoof bowls across Cook, who does a bit of fishing outside his off stump. More promisingly, Trott punches the final ball merrily down the ground for four. "It's raining!" moans Richard Hands. "At Lord's in June this may not qualify as news, but in Bamako it certainly does. With any luck this will drive the afternoon temperature down from 45°C to somewhere in the comfortable mid-30s. The camels will also be happy, although no doubt my friends at the Fédération Malienne du Cricket will be moaning about having to get out their Duckworth Lewis sliding tables. Personally I'd take grey, occasionally rainy 18C over blazing sun and 45C.
15th over: England 57-1 (Cook 27, Trott 23) After Fernando's over a light meter enters the pitch, with a man attached. The result is, we think, 9.2. The umpires are having a chat. And ... they're staying on, for now.
16th over: England 59-1 (Cook 27, Trott 24) A couple of meaningful chats between the batsmen, presumably about the light. But it's just been checked, so is presumably OK, and it seems to be perfectly bright enough for Graeme Swann, up on the balcony, to completely ignore the game and read a magazine instead.
16.2 overs: England 61-1 (Cook 27, Trott 26) The light meter is out again after a couple of balls. Ian Botham insists it's plenty light enough to play on, but the umpires after a little chat decide to take the players off. "It's lighter now than it was 15 minutes ago," rages Beefy. "Dear oh dear." England's batsmen seem pretty happy about it, Sri Lanka's fielders less so. The umpires are still in the middle.
Light latest: The light meter now reads 9.5, meaning it is 0.3 units of light lighter than it was 10 minutes ago, when the players were told to get on with it. Puzzling.
Light latest: The umpires are still in the middle, as are two groundsmen, the fourth umpire and a couple of bottles of bright orange liquid. "Anyone notice what magazine Swann was reading?" asks Ryan Dunne. "Cricketers, like footballers, seem depressingly fond of Loaded, Nuts, Zoo etc, but surely even Swanny wouldn't risk something so vulgar at Lord's. The Spectator is surely ideal. Or possibly The Oldie." I didn't notice, but either the serious magazines have significantly increased their headline font sizes since I last read them, or it wasn't a serious magazine.
Light latest: There's been a reading of 11.3, so it is lighter to the tune of over two whole units of light than it was 15 minutes ago. Light enough, in fact, for players to reappear.
17th over: England 66-1 (Cook 27, Trott 31) "It's always difficult after a break," commentate the commentators, nervously, as Fernando trundles in, and with near-inevitability the first ball (but third of this over) is pushed away by Trott through long on for a four. "How much contempt do they have for paying punters?" rages Charlie Talbot. "Neither yesterday nor today, no announcement as they wander off on a whim. A crowd who love test cricket are annoyed, I've spent two days at Lords to be treated like an idiot. And they have the cheek to complain about crowds falling."
18th over: England 75-1 (Cook 27, Trott 40) Maharoof's over brings another couple of boundaries for the suddenly free-scoring Trott, plus a quick single to keep him on strike. "Today is my first day working for the UN in Nairobi, and therefore officially my first OBO as an expat," writes Seth Levine. "Nothing much to add really - just wanted to see how that looked on the page." Well do let us know how it feels, Seth.
19th over: England 79-1 (Cook 28, Trott 41) In comes Fernando again, like a more youthful, chunkier Paul Nicholas, and two of his first three deliveries are no balls. In the circumstances, four runs off the over looks like a pretty good achievement. "Footballers are fond of Loaded, Nuts, Zoo etc as that is where they look for their future wives," suggests Ian Copestake, though sometimes, as we know, when it comes to finding future conquests a family get-together will do.
20th over: England 81-1 (Cook 30, Trott 41) Lakmal comes back on, and his first ball finds Cook's edge, but the ball bounces a good yard in front of second slip.
21st over: England 89-1 (Cook 30, Trott 49) Another edge. This time it's Trott, who sends the ball straight to where third slip would have been had he only existed, and thence bouncing away for four.
22nd over: England 91-1 (Cook 32, Trott 49) England lead by 98, so it should be pretty safe to declare now. I have to say that when they cut to the stump-cam everything looks exceedingly gloomy.
23rd over: England 95-1 (Cook 32, Trott 53) Fernando's first ball rears up at Trott, striking him on the finger and leading to a lengthy stoppage – presumably England's physio was caught out, because it took a while for him to get to the middle. Fernando, scenting blood, pitches the next ball short. Trott ducks under it, and then slams the third ball through point for a lovely four. They are the only runs of the over, with a couple of other short deliveries following. A new tactic, perhaps?
24th over: England 105-1 (Cook 38, Trott 54) Three more no-balls, these from Lakmal, and then Cook's four, steered through fine leg, brings up the 100 partnership. "England's run rate is over 4 again, as it was by the end of the first innings," notes Sara Torvalds. "SL's was only 3.63. I read somewhere - Vaughany's autobiography? - that at one point England made the over rate a focus area, having learnt from the Aussies that keeping the over rate up was yet another way of putting pressure on the opposition. Or is it just a reflection of the bowling? (i.e. weren't the England bowlers as sloppy as we thought?)"
25th over: England 113-1 (Cook 46, Trott 54) Fernando, like a podgy male Sable Colby except with minimal jewellery, no high heels and a distinct lack of lamé clothing, trundles in and Cook drives the ball through cover in an extremely stylish manner for four, giving the Englishman the confidence to plunder another four runs off the over. It's significantly brighter now than when all the light meter shenanigans were going on, so we could be here for another hour.
WICKET! England 117-2 (Trott b Herath 58) Sri Lanka ring the changes by bringing in Herath, and he immediately has Trott squirming. Worse than that, in fact, because his fourth ball pitches just at Trott's advancing feet, bounces merrily past his swinging bat and takes out leg stump.
26th over: England 117-2 (Cook 46, Pietersen 0) In comes Kevin Pietersen, with a couple of balls of left-arm spin to deal with. And he does, to great cheers from the not-many-really fans in attendance.
27th over: England 125-2 (Cook 52, Pietersen 1) Fernando's second ball is distainfully dismissed by Cook, eased past long off for four. And that's his half-century. Nice stuff. Fernando produces the regulation no-ball.
28th over: England 125-2 (Cook 52, Pietersen 1) Cook takes a single off the first ball, leaving Pietersen a testy five to face. He gets a leading edge off the first but survives, and shortly afterwards gets off the mark with a simple prod to fine leg.
29th over: England 125-2 (Cook 52, Pietersen 1) This is a big innings for Pietersen, and he's in no hurry for it to end. Or for anything else to happen, for that matter. The result is a rare Fernando maiden.
30th over: England 128-2 (Cook 53, Pietersen 3) I have to say most of that over disappeared in the moment between me realising that my Over 27 update had been swallowed in a technological hole and me digging it out of that hole. Sounded nice though.
31st over: England 131-2 (Cook 56, Pietersen 3) Fernando, like a somewhat more rounded Dancing-in-the-Street-era Mick Jagger, keeps chugging in, though he tries his luck going round the wicket for the final ball.
32nd over: England 131-2 (Cook 56, Pietersen 3) A maiden over from Harath, which KP admired from the other end.
33rd over: England 132-2 (Cook 56, Pietersen 4) Not quite a maiden from Fernando, with Pietersen adopting an ultra-cautious approach until he nicks a single, whereupon he continues round the wicket to Cook.
34th over: England 136-2 (Cook 56, Pietersen 8) Woohooo! Kevin Pietersen finally and loudly announces himself by boshing Herath down the ground for four, the only runs from the over – but weren't they good? "Am I the only England fan secretly hoping for a few wickets to fall tonight, and for England to be all out some time around lunchtime tomorrow with a lead of 250ish?" ponders David Holmes. "Much as I'd like to see England do well I think I'd rather have an exciting finish. Is this wrong?" You're not wrong, David. If there's one thing I want from the final 24 hours of this Test, it's to have fun.
35th over: England 139-2 (Cook 57, Pietersen 9) Fernando's spell finally comes to a close, allowing Maharoof to re-enter the fray. Not only does he kiss the ball as he begins his first run-up, he also is so distraught when Cook scores his single that his head is actually in his hands for a moment, before he wanders off, shaking his head and muttering. That's pride, that is. For his sake, then, we'll not mention the no-ball.
36th over: England 140-2 (Cook 57, Pietersen 10) Herath has five balls at Pietersen, pretty well dealt with. Nick Knight reckons KP looks significantly more confident now than in the first innings. Which is an idiotic thing for an Englishman to say at this stage in proceedings.
37th over: England 142-2 (Cook 58, Pietersen 11) Andy Flower is having a very length conversation with Trott on the balcony, a prospect so exciting that Sky dedicate the best part of the entire over to it. At the end of which, they notice that Finn's got his pads on. So have Bell and Prior, mind, but there's some potential nightwatchman action to be had.
38th over: England 144-2 (Cook 59, Pietersen 12) Everyone's agreed, Pietersen's looking absolutely in control and is all set for a mammoth innings. Got that?
39th over: England 146-2 (Cook 60, Pietersen 13) "Pietersen is playing ... sensibly," lavishes David Gower, which is faint praise if I've ever heard it, as Maharoof starts his over. Singles off the first ball and the last. It's got to that stage in the evening when the only thing anyone can think about is the prospect of it ending pretty soon. We've got 10 minutes to go.
40th over: England 148-2 (Cook 61, Pietersen 14) Welegedara comes on, but the scoring rate does not. Two runs off the over, and we've had 12 in the last five overs. Pietersen could have got himself run out after he pushed the final ball to mid on and went for a single, the Herath's throw is utterly abysmal, endangering nothing but the bowler's head.
41st over: England 149-2 (Cook 61, Pietersen 15) Another sharp single for Pietersen, off the first ball, and that's the only run from Herath's over. Will there be time, or light, for another?
Stumps: England 149-2 (Cook 61, Pietersen 15, England lead by 156) No. A good day for England, with the possibility of an afternoon declaration and having-a-bit-of-a-go to come tomorrow, all being well – sometimes after KP has completed his double-century, obviously. And for all that I spent the first three hours of the day providing occasional updates on the falling of rain, it feels like it's been quite a long one. So thanks for your company, have a great evening, and Rob will be back for more in the morning.
