Live Test Match Blogging / Ed Hawkins / 15 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Ravi Bopara and Alastair Cook scored centuries yesterday but rain has halted England's progress early on day two as they try to win the Second Test. Ed Hawkins talks us through the weather forecast and the cricket.

16.11 PLAY ABANDONED FOR THE DAY
Hardly the most surprising of newsflashes eh? The (relatively) good news is that the forecasters reckon there will be sunny from 12-3pm tomorrow which should give us some cricket. I sincerely hope so. I might go bonkers otherwise sitting here watching highlights of Test matches about 10 years ago. England are [4.10], the draw [1.30] and WI anything you like. See you bright and early.

15.52 RAIN
Delhi have lost their second wicket. Out to [2.78]. Well, at the risk of repeating myself, I think that's an overreaction. You would be able to trade such a price easy-peesy over the next 36 overs. That's a long time. In other news, it has taken a while for today's quiz to be successfully answered. JC correctly named some bloke called Bradman. That was an easy one, folks. You dhould have done better. Perhaps it shows the age of the people reading this blog?

15.46 RAIN
Twenty20 is a very fast-moving game.And you have to be quick with your fingers if you are backing or laying. But we've just had an example of why it is such a tremendous betting format. Sehwag has been dismissed by Brett Lee to leave Delhi on 19-1. And the prices have flip-flopped. Delhi come out to [2.10] and Punjab into [1.86]. If you didn't back Delhi on the back of our last post make sure you do so now.

15.42 RAIN
Surprising to see Delhi drifting to [1.90]. We said earlier about Punjab's ability to go round the park and they could be in real danger if Sehwag and Gambhir get going. It is price bordering on bonkers.

15.31 RAIN
CBS has reacted by suggestion that Test cricket should not be played north of Nottingham. "What are you talking about?! Have you ever been to Headingley?" Yes I have. And it was empty. Probably the greatest myth of all time is that Yorkshireman love their cricket. If they did, the place would be sold out all the time. Remember when the ECB warned them about poor ticket sales? As for the people of Durham loving their sport, don't make me laugh.

15.05 RAIN
We're 25 minutes from today's IPL match between Delhi and Punhab. You can read our preview here. It could be a cracker. Punjab absolutely must win to have any hope of making the semis. They will field first, a decision which would make me feel rather uncomfortable if I had backed them at [2.12]. Punjab have a habit of losing the plot in the field thanks to skipper Yuvraj. All the toys come out of the pram if a bowler loses his line and length. He appears incapable of keeping a lid on his moody nature. Against Rajasthan they conceded 211 - the highest of the tournament - and Chennai whacked 185 against them. Delhi, with Gambhir and Sehwag ready to wield the willow, should be licking their lips.

14.50 THE DEBATE
Can I be the first to say this? No Test cricket should be staged north of Nottingham. There, I've put it out there. Do with it what you will.
The ticket sales for the second Test between England and West Indies in Chester-le-Street (that's in Durham by the way, folks) had numbered 3,000 two days before the start of the game.
Clearly, people oop north have no interest in the game if a county which has staged only three previous Tests are reporting such atrocious sales. As for the rest of the northern outposts, Manchester's Old Trafford ground is decrepit and like stepping back in time 30 years and Headingley is regularly empty for England Tests.
So stage them all in Nottingham, Birmingham and London, where the fans are neither fickle nor flattering to deceive.
Disagree? Email me then. hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk

14.21 RAIN
Portuguese Pirate says: "Apart from the weather things are actually looking pretty rosy for England's Test Team with their batting looking strong and Bopara looking a class act. That said, the guy next to me at work asked me to put my best Test Match XI on paper and when I did, not a single English player was on it with only KP coming close. Here it is by the way: Graeme Smith, Virender Sehwag, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Shiv Chanderpaul, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Daniel Vettori (captain), Mitchell Johnson Zaheer Khan, Dale Steyn." You've rather thrown a spanner in the works there PP regarding our planned debate. That is a good way to pass the time. Could I suggest that you replace Vettori with Murali, moving Johnson to No8? Murali, after all, is the greatest wicket-taker. Or are you unhappy with his action? There goes the clank of another spanner.

13.56 TODAY'S QUIZ
Yesterday we had tremendous fun by asking who was the missing England player from 11 who had scored three successive Test match centuries. It was Ian Bell. A real surprise because he is considered to be a chap who can't put together a run of scores. Indeed, that was why he lost his spot to Ravi Bopara, who promptly became the 12th Englishman to achieve the feat. So, today's question is: which batsman is the only man to have made consecutive centuries in six Test matches? Clue: he ain't English.

13.30 RAIN
Clutching at straws 3: If West Indies were too cold to perform at HQ, then surely they will not be bothered when they are cold and wet. You'll spot how these excerpts have got progressively hopeful. Gosh, we could really do with some cricket. Thankfully, we will have some in about two hours when the IPL contest between Delhi and Punjab starts. We'll go through some betting options for that. We'll also have a quiz. The theme will be 'successive Test centuries'. Deja vu I know, but yesterday I enjoyed bamboozling you all with such questions so I want to do it again. There will be a debate, too. I think it will centre around the pathetic attendance figures for Test matches in the grim north. There, that should get the blood boiling nicely. Email me at hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk

13.09 RAIN
Yesterday there was a shot of a spectator wearing a mop on his head. He was a day too early. It is still raining of course. And you can see what doom and gloom is in store by using this rather handy weather radar. http://www.meteox.co.uk/h.aspx?r=&jaar=-3&soort=loop1uur. Clutching at straws 2: this wet stuff will juice up a pitch which was no good for anyone yesterday. It was deathly slow for the batsmen, who struggled with their timing. The bowlers demanded zip but didn't get it. And the punters and fans wanted both. Traditionally the wicket can get a little uneven at the Riverside and, I kid you not, when the level of the nearby rivers are high, there's more swing than the sixties.

12.46 RAIN
The first of the straws that wer are clutching at for a result in this game is the most reasonable. It is the fact that time can be made up. Something that is so often forgotten when it comes to draw betting. We could find another three hours of cricket at the end of the last three days to recover lost overs. Say the over rate is about 12 an hour and that is a sizeable chunk.

12.24 RAIN
Just to give you an update on the weather situation, the forecast is that the rain will only get heavier. Almost an inch is expected today. The market has reacted accordingly. England are [3.85] and the draw is [1.36]. The stalemate will only get shorter. It was [1.42] about an hour ago. Don't forget, though that the chances of a result in this Test are far from dead. We can clutch at three straws. We'll go through each of them in due course.

11.50 RAIN
This is not what the tourist board of the north east would have wanted. The rain is falling, the skies are grey and a scaterring of morons with umbrellas remain stoic in their seats. David Gower has just described them as "brave". Not quite the word you were searching for, I believe. Try dim. Or brainless. I mean really, what sort of person wakes up in the morning, opens the curtains to see God has decide to empty his bath on your county and then say 'pack the thermos, Doris, we're off to the cricket'? The sport of person who grazes his chin horrible on the pavement everytime he goes out. Obviously the chances of cricket today are slim but we'll do our best to entertain. We'll have a heated debate, a quiz and some IPL chat, too because there is a game on today.