Should England get a bowl today, Jofra Archer will be ripping into Australia with that deliciously languid action of his.

But Andrew Benton in Hong Kong wants to know if the ECB has learned a lesson:

I seem to remember there was lots of talk in 2019 of an increased chance of Jofra Archer succumbing to injury due to his being fast-tracked into the England team…. Do you know if ECB has or will revise it’s thinking in case of similar situations in the future?

Not sure Andrew. I guess that all depends if they manage to find a player as devastatingly excellent as Jof.

Johnny Joseph has put his hand up and provides this answer to Rachel’s question on player availaiblity:

Regarding Rachel’s email, it’s also worth noting that the 6 Nation Rugby tournament goes on while the Premiership is still playing so it’s not a completely unique quirk! I think that there being so many countries who play football internationally and simultaneously that it would be impossible to have league fixtures playing at the same time.

Fingers crossed we can draw the series level today!

Good point. Outside of football I reckon this is more common that we might think.

Another ripper of a question, this time from Rob Wright:

Just when you think we’re about to see some cricket, more rain! They’re bringing on the extra cover, and my wife is fascinated by this, suggesting perhaps that’s where the term originated. Can anyone deny or confirm?

Your wife might be bang on! This article from our archives confirms it.

However, there is also the theory that the fielder at cover was stationed there to ‘cover’ the area between point and mid-off.

Personally I lean more towards the latter idea as I’d wager that the position pre-dates the use of covers. But I’m simply guessing.

While we’re on the subject, my favourite name for a fielding position is the Afrikaans for short leg, which is slagyster posisie – pronounced slaggh-ayster-po-zees-ee.

This directly translates to slaughterhouse position. Which just about captures what’s going on under the lid off the batter’s hips.

Rachel Kelsall is a relatively new cricket fan and has a question to ask.

I’ll give my best answer but if anyone out there wants to correct me please do!

OK Rachel, what have you got?

Hello Daniel,

This is probably a very simple question, sorry – but I’m only recently beginning to follow any sort of cricket and I can’t get the wording right to google the answer.

I’m wondering what the overlap is between the player’s in this match and player’s involved in the county championship which your colleague is also helpfully covering. Would they have had to pick, or be picked for, one or the other? Or is this a different type of cricket with different players involved completely.

If they do have to pick – is there not a system of international breaks like in other sports?

Feel free to ignore this if you feel the answer should be obvious

Thank you

Hi Rachel, welcome to this ridiculous sport we love so much. I believe it is simple. The players in the England set up are contracted by England, so the national team gets to pick when they play.

They do get to play for their domestic teams but not as often as players did back in the ‘70s-’90s. This is a consequence of more international cricket as well as those central contracts that help manage the players’ load.

Also, different formats require different skillsets which means some players might be in England’s ODI and T20I teams, but not the Test team, thereby allowing them to play for their county when the Test team is in action.

Hope that helps. If anyone wants to add to this please feel free.

Nick Way is on my page.

Agree how annoying it is to wait after the toss, especially when there’s already been a weather delay. Couple of minutes for batters one to four to get their pads on, that’s all you need. Some traditions are only “because we’ve always done it that way”

Sadly Nick, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway as the covers are on and we have to wait even longer. At least we’ve done the toss.

Further delays

Well that’s something.

Eight minutes to go. It really is frustrating that we have to wait so long between the toss and the first ball. After all, in Test matches when teams are bowled out there’s a quick turnaround. What is the hold up. Graaaah!

Cricket being cricket, we have to wait 30 minutes between the toss and the first ball, which is rather silly if you ask me.

Meanwhile, Andy Flintoff (no, not that one), noticed something from Jim’s Spin:

I have noticed that the famous ‘sons of’ mentioned in The Spin this week were all sons of former England captains (Atherton, Flintoff and Vaughan). When should we expect Alastair Cook’s or Andrew Strauss’s nippers to play first class cricket?

Match reduced to 43 overs a side

Australia team

England team

Australia win the toss and bowl first

Sean Abbott is chatting with Mike Atherton for Sky.

It’s mostly platitudes, as you’d expect from a pretty polished pro. Some good bits on the transference of skills from red to white ball.

What I found most interesting is how he referred to Harry Brook and Will Jacks as “Brooksy” and “Jacksy”.

It’s been said before but it really is quite something how modern players are so chummy with each other. Not saying it’s a bad thing. It’s probably healthier to be honest. Still, quite the evolution.

Eoin Morgan is out in the middle. He says it all “looks good” and that the “wicket looks pretty hard”. He reckons the play is to bowl first.

Oh, and he of course makes mention of the “unbelievable drainage systemic” a Lord’s. Won’t be the last time we hear about the outfield and the slope.

Toss scheduled for 1.30pm BST

The players are warming up!

The covers are being removed. We’re getting closer.

In case you missed it, Ben Stokes is open to a return to England’s ODI team.

Is that wise? Would that further knacker his already knackered knees? That’s a silly question. If he’s willing and fit then he surely has to get back in. Right?

While we watch grown men sweep water around a big tarpaulin, let’s get back to some divisive rhetoric.

Here’s Krishna Moorthy:

Hello Daniel. Jay Shah is not the first person from India who is heading ICC, but he is certainly the least deserving. 10 years ago, he was a nobody but then his father’s party came to power and suddenly a nobody has turned into a Midas.

Nepotism in bureaucracy and organisations is vastly understated.

And speaking of nepotism, James Wallace penned this week’s Spin column where he considered the rise of some unfamiliar players with very familiar surnames.

The groundstaff are making movements, but we won’t get play any time soon. There’s a bunch of standing water – from what I can tell – and you don’t want to risk being the guy who dumps it from the covers onto the pitch (believe me, I’ve been that guy).

But this is good news as it means it’s stopped raining over Lord’s.

Simon Leyland has picked up something that I dangled in my premble.

He wants to know, “If Lords is not the HQ of cricket, where is?”

I guess right now it’s wherever Jay Shah resides.

Ricky Ponting just spent a good few minutes singing Will Jacks’ praises. He particularly loves his bat speed and footwork.

The young lad has certainly impressed and could be a mainstay for some time.

Toss delayed at Lord’s

We’ve got our first email and the title is simply ‘Nope’.

It’s from Rob:

Looking forward to some adversarial cricket today, but currently hiding in a cafe at Paddington until you say the rain has stopped. It’s up to you, Daniel.

I can do a lot mate, but I can’t control the weather. I’ll do my best though.

Lord’s security on high alert today.

As Ali Martin reports, it’s a year on from the ugly scenes in the Long Room and the Aussies will not want to go through that again.

My word, has anyone seen the Sri Lanka v New Zealand score?

Kamindu Mendis is 182 off 250 in a partnership of over 200. What does that pitch in Galle look like?

I’m afraid to say it’s pretty wet around the country.

Tanya Aldred is keeping an eye on the County Championship where a few games have already been called.

Preamble

Daniel Gallan