England vs India, 1st ODI at Bristol, , Aug 25 2014 - Ball by Ball Commentary

1.30pm: Afternoon, all. It's wetter than a wet weekend in West Wetoutfieldshire listening to Wet Wet Wet, pretty much all around the country. In London's it's drizzling steadily; sounds like the volume goes up and down but the song stays the same in Bristol. In fact, a decision has been made, the match has been abandoned... Well, this has been the briefest commentary stint I think I've ever done. Some respite for India, then, they hold the series to 0-0 going to Cardiff on Wednesday - where the forecast is again not particularly flash. For those disappointed today, Glamorgan have just announced that tickets can be exchanged for ones to the second game, on a first come, first served basis. Just pop along to the Gloucestershire ticket office at Nevil Road.

I was going to start you off with some apt footage of our own Arya Yuyutsu getting drenched, in the process challenging Ian Bell to do the same (challenge accepted), so instead that will be my parting gift. Thanks to Karthik for mugging exceptionally over the last few hours, join us again for the second ODI in a couple of days, where we'll hope for better luck. Cheerio

1.25pm Alrighty then. I'm off for a bit. Alan Gardner will take over, and hopefully bring some sunshine with him.

1.20pm Here's something to read. Sidharth Monga paid a visit to the Gray Nicolls factory, and he's written all about it.

Karthikeyan: "@ Karthik Well said "classrooms full of Karthiks". I was called Tall Karthik in class as there were 3 guys with same name." Well, mine had three as well, at one point, but we all stood close to the front of the line during general assembly. No Tall Karthiks in my class!

1.00pm It's still raining in Bristol, in case you were wondering. And the BCCI has just tweeted this: "It is still raining in Bristol. Official word is that the match can start latest by 3:47 BST. But it doesn't look good as of now."

12.00pm Subodh Yeole: "Is it still raining?" Yes, it is.
Stuart: "Has The rain stopped?" No, it hasn't. And Sidharth Monga has confirmed there's been no let-up.

Mike: "I'm in Bristol about 400 yds from the ground. No chance of play today ... not just the awful forecast (with met warning), but it's Aug public holiday ... guaranteed bad weather!"

Rufus SG: "Regarding the Australia game, I know it's only Zimbabwe but this is where I think Australia have a great chance in the World Cup: with players like Maxwell and Faulkner their death batting, on far truer Australian pitches than these, is among the best of any international side (any other suggestions?) and gives them great scope to rack huge totals up if they conserve wickets in the early stages of the innings like they have here." It's a pretty frightening line-up, and on current form, I'd say Australia are definitely among the top two or three favourites.

Vivek Bhandari: "Karthik: out of context tell me one thing, did you ever feel exceptionally good whenever your namesakes (Dinesh Karthik, Murali Kartik etc) did well?" Nope. Spending all of my childhood in classrooms full of Karthiks made me immune to any such feeling. On the contrary, it feels good to be the only Karthik in the Cricinfo office, as far as I know :)

11.25am Meanwhile, over in Harare, Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell are playing a few shots...

Pradip: "Interestingly, India scored 329 in 50 overs in both the one days , (against Engalnd in Natwest 2007 series and aganist kenya in WC 99)...Is it going to be another 329 for India should they opt to bat first?" Assuming we get a game today...

Linga: "After a horror 2007 WC, Team India regained their dominance in ODIs against mighty South Africans in this same ground where Tendulkar regained his opening slot and his supreme form as well. Can the same happened to Team India? We cannot see sachin bat again though:(" I think you're referring to this ODI against England, but yes, Tendulkar made 99. And, as everyone knows, he also made that emotional century at Bristol against Kenya during the 99 World Cup. He also made 99 against South Africa, and I guess that's the match you're referring to, but that was at Belfast.

Aditi: "Just a suggestion, Karthik. The "India" page on Cricinfo lists just the boys under the "Players" section, even though it reports on the women's team as well. It would be nice if our girls are acknowledged as India Players too... " I just checked, and you're right. Some of the other countries' Players pages have a section for the women's players too. I shall pass your message on to the people in charge of these things.

11am We should have been some six or seven overs into the match by now, but we are not. The latest news from the ground? It's still raining.

DirkL: "Don't want to be pedantic, Karthik, but that's no limerick. You should have typed it as six lines rhyming aabccb." You're absolutely right. Limericks are aabba, as a couple of others have also pointed out.

10.20am Sidharth Monga has an update. "The rain just got heavier."

Hitesh: "@Karthik @Nishant ICC code of conduct book ;)" As long as the match referee isn't around to throw the book at anyone...

Nishant: "I am in full day training at office and i was hoping the cricket scores would keep me awake. Anyways, is there a possibility for both the teams to play book cricket at least ?" Which book would they use, I wonder.

Martin Jose: "I would atleast want to see the toss happening today...Madly curious to know the line up and plans of both teams for this ODI series." That's an interesting thought. No match, no problem - here are the teams, here's the toss, now play it in your imaginations.

9.55am Bristol's not too far from Gloucester, so I'd say Monga's having a not too dissimilar experience to the man in this famous limerick:

Doctor Foster went to Gloucester,
In a shower of rain;
He stepped in a puddle,
Right up to his middle,
And never went there again.

9.50am Sidharth Monga, our man in Bristol, mailed this in a little while ago: "It was drizzling when I went to sleep. It was drizzling when I woke up. I have walked through a drizzle to get to the ground. And it is still drizzling. It's a fine little spray, one that refuses to go away. The drainage here is not the greatest, nor do we have floodlights in case it is only murky and not raining. I don't see this match happening because the forecast is for more the same, but for the time being I can safely say we are not going to start on time."

Mark: "Plenty of speculation yesterday that this game will be abandoned without a ball being bowled. As a Bristolian in exile who went to the ground regularly in the '70s, I hope that Gloucestershire do get to see a game. A lot of effort and love has gone into preparing the ground for today. The best hope, judging by the forecast, is of a possible 10 or 15 over game in the afternoon but, with no lights, even that may be difficult." They'll need to be able to play a minimum of 20 overs a side, Mark.

9.35am Hello everyone. I have news for you, and it isn't great news. It's rained all night in Bristol, the ground is under covers, and it's still drizzling.

A couple of things for you to read, at leisure, while you wait for the rain to abate. First, this preview, by Abhishek Purohit. Sidharth Monga, meanwhile, wonders if India have the resources to arrest their ODI slide overseas, and David Hopps sees in the selection of Alex Hales a subtle shift in England's thinking in ODIs.