England vs Pakistan, 1st ODI at London, WC Warm-up, May 08 2019 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Match abandoned! Handshakes up on the balcony. They've stuck a fork in this one and moved on to pastures new. No prospect of a restart before 7.45pm, so they've given up and gone home.

So, what are the take-aways from that one? Well, Jofra Archer bowled like the wind. Liam Plunkett claimed a wicket to insist that he shouldn't be the one to make way for him. And Pakistan struggled to make much headway in damp conditions. So, not a lot of take-aways really, but we'll take them all the same!

Until Saturday, when we reconvene at the Ageas Bowl for the second ODI, good night!

7.08pm George Dobell is watching people watching umpires. "Charles Dagnall [of TMS fame] on the field walking around - outfield is still pretty damp straight down the wicket.

"He reckons its 50-50 (based also on an indeterminate nod from the groundsman as he walked by) as to whether we get more cricket. Square and run-ups are good, boundary edges pretty damp."

7.01pm Right, we were theoretically meant to be underway by now. But there's that outfield issue still slowing things up. We need to be back underway by 7.45pm or it's curtains.

Umair: "England is the worst place for cricket. Thank you ICC for ruining this WC" Psst ... Umair. A secret for you. IT HASN'T STARTED YET!

Jamal nasar: "I was in mosque . During 1 and half hour of worship I refreshing in every 10 minutes cricinfo. So tell me now the expected time to start match. " You sure your imam isn't watching, Jamal? Or was it his phone you were using?

Abdullah Murad: "Us Pakistan fans have had to deal with the failure of our cricket team for the last 2 years! whoever is controlling this rain please have some mercy and take it away for good. " Two years! That's a drop in the ocean! Try the entirety of the 1990s. Or 44 barren years and counting since an ICC 50-over trophy...

6.57pm A lengthy inspection is still ongoing, and is centring on a soggy area on the outfield ... it's got nothing to do with the run-ups, but no-one wants either injury, or badly scuffed turf, with 22 days until the World Cup opening contest on this very ground.

Vinod Rajpal: "How are the things here Andrew, just witnessed one of the thrillers in a knock-out T20 match in IPL !" Gosh, so you did! Maybe I should have heeded your advice. Jonny B will be gutted...

6.41pm More umpirally loitering out by the covers. They are looking very intently at not a whole lot. We remain on course for something resembling a 7pm restart...

Hamza: "Why time is showing 8:41 pm in last update instead of 6: pm " It was wishful thinking. Resolved now

Mind you, if it was 8.41pm, we would be almost half-way to knowing if Spurs or Ajax will face Liverpool in the Champions League final. It's all kicking off (soon) on ESPN.com.

6.36pm Murtuza: "If we get a complete game, looking forward to seeing Amir bowl in these conditions. " Indeed, a great shame for his World Cup hopes if he doesn't get his chance to break into their 15... Jofra Archer, on the other hand, has leapt several places closer to selection ...

6.29pm The Big Screen declares "Aim to start 1900". And who are we to argue with a Big Screen?

Sumant : "@Andrew. Is there some unwritten rule that an Indian's comment can't be shared here on Cricinfo in Pakistan's match?" Nope, that's just your paranoia kicking in. Welcome aboard! We're all friends in cricket here!

Waqas Khan: "Thank u guys for the updates but I have to refresh at least 100 times to get the new update. Can't we get the updates every 5 minutes or even earlier...." Well, we could. But life is also too short ... and this tea won't brew itself

Uzair: "We are living in 21st century,with all the science advancement we can predict the climate of a region for specific period of time.Hence ICC never take the weather under consideration while deciding a venue for a Mega cup. It have happened before and it will happen again.While the world is living in 21st century,Icc is still in 20th " Well hurrah for that, I say. Apart from all the wars and stuff, the 20th Century wasn't all bad ...

6.24pm OSMAN: "I wonder. Why don't we have indoor cricket stadiums across the cricketing world? :/ ESPECIALLY in the UK! If we can do it for Wimbledon, why not for cricket? " Have you ever seen the size of a tennis court? Never mind the concept of getting outside for some fresh air...

Zohaib: "Rain stops at 6:21pm - Dry spell till 7:23pm after which we have light rain till 7:46pm. In case anyone wants to play after that. " Sounds comically ideal, given that 7.45pm is our de facto cut-off point.

But, on that note, George confirms that The Covers Are Coming Off Again!

6.16pm And it's raining again. Ho hum ...

Haris: "How did they invent cricket in such weather? " I guess they waited for the dry bits

Another inspection at 6.40pm and a potential restart at 7pm. Assuming no more rain of course ...

6.08pm Niaz Ullah: "You will find fewer meals (people choose) with India and Pakistan as their choosed courses of the three. My top course is Pakistan, then New Zealand and then England." Ice cream followed by cod and chips? You wrong'un...

Jerry: "It would be curtains for Pakistan in this game if it is decided to have a 20 over contest. Pakistan are lacking alot runs on the board for that." DLS would come to their aid to a degree. But they are also the No.1 T20I team in the world!

6.03pm Lord Percy Wint: "Deluge of spiritual ferocity here in N7 London (Tufnell Park named after the great leftie) - worried good Lady wife might be washed away towards Camden on the way home. Headed south towards the Oval. Time for the wretched spectators left to don the snorkel... " Oh dear, that sounds terminally soggy

Hugo: "There used to be a Ceefax setting whereby you could mix the teletext screen with the TV picture. Ultimately though it wasn't ideal - the Ceefax sports watcher couldn't see the numbers properly because of the moving images behind them, and the TV watcher, well, having cricket scores filling half the screen didn't make for a satisfactory viewing experience." It was the worst of all worlds. But you took whatever info you could glean in those halcyon days!

Mokee: "I'm fasting and sunset is about 8 hours away. Please stop it with the menu. Kthanksbye" Yet another example of good things coming to those who wait. Though today of all days, you'd be forgiven for mistaking one of those massive rainclouds for sunset...

6pm Right, the umpires are inspecting. The covers haven't been entirely shifted yet, but it seems dry overhead at least... we need to be underway by 7.45pm in order to sneak in a 20-over contest ... sit tight for updates!

Talha: "Not too far from UK in Paris. The whole day has been a mixed bag of heavy showers followed by bright sunshine." Exactly like my league match at the weekend. We got a full match in, in between four monstrous hailstorms. (And yes, we lost, of course, but it was a thriller... so good things come to those who wait etc)

5.58pm Seaweed, did you say? I prefer seabass. The crispier the better ...

5.55pm: "What's the weather report Alan? Hope the match starts..." No news is good news, Ibrahim. But we'll find out shortly, with Andrew Miller and his seaweed back in the comms seat

"There was time that CEEFAX was the most hated thing in our house, we as kids has no chance to watch mickey mouse or tom and jerry because some old bloke (dad/uncle) will be staring at random numbers on that screen..." The way things should be, Imran. Staring at a wall used to be what we did for fun in my day

5.45pm: Inspection due in about 15 minutes, though I'm worried a rather dark splodge might be descending over London right about now...

"Ceefax football news was 302 and 316 for live scores. Pages 340 and 302 forever in my heart." That's the jackpot, Stuart

And here's Andrew Losowsky: "The cricket was 340, the current England game was 341 and Yorkshire was usually 348. Bamber Boozler, however, could only be found on Channel 4. #internetbutonthetelly" Ah, Bamber and his bamboozling quiz. Although you could of course cheat by pressing up or down on your remote if you knew it was dialling up the 'wrong answer' page

5.35pm: We have a winner, via tie-breaker, thanks to Joshua going the extra mile: "340 for cricket on ceefax! 341 for the latest scorecard." Now, how did you bring up the football?

Looks reasonably clear above Kennington now, by the way, although there is some ominous grey cloud behind the OCS Stand. Don't say you haven't been warned...

"I watched Brian Lara's 375 against England on Ceefax outside of Rumbelows in Maidstone." Now that's a story to tell the grandchildren, Graeme Dimmock

"While we're waiting Alan, I would like to know what the seemingly vague concept of Control % is and how it's calculated - if you have time, that is ;-)" Well, I am rather busy atm, Allan Morris... But I think it is manually entered by our scorers, based on the intention of the shot, whether it was middled, etc and so on. A bit subjective but gives you a fair idea, I'd say

5.25pm: Let's continue to assume it's not raining, just like we all imagine we'll do something worthwhile with our lives at some point...

"No need to bat again. Give'em a target of 150 in 20. I wanna see how Amir fares." Well, Rahul, it will be revised up by DLS... But I reckon 150 might be on the generous side, despite having eight wickets in hand

"What's happened to the ceefax conversation?" wonders Laura. "I've enjoyed learning some titbits of info. Bring it back!" Okay, I'll give 10 life points to the first person to tell me what was the page number for cricket...

Talha Butt: "I think this summer rain will ruin the whole world cup. This is just rubbish. England is the worst venue for cricket regarding weather. I remember the match. ICC CT2017 Pak vs SA. so irritating was that." Well, not the first time South Africa have fallen foul of the rain rules, of course. And imagine holding a tournament in a country where the trophy might have to be shared because the final was washed out twice!

5.10pm: Good News Klaxon: It has stopped raining at The Oval! But the umpires are going to wait for a wee while as the groundsmen get to work, ready for a 6pm inspection. Keep 'em crossed, and in the meantime, why not take a look at our gallery?

"It seems like Rain is also warming up for the World Cup," snorts Karthikeyan. I'll have you know the Great British weather is ready to go and spoil your plans at the drop of a hat

4.55pm: Oh go on then, let's roll out the rain radar for the first time this summer. Doesn't look particularly encouraging, with a few more banks heading up on the breeze...

Abdullah Khawaj: "At what time do we stop hoping for a match?" Well, it was 6.15 for a 20-over match, but we've had nearly 20 overs of the Pakistan innings... So maybe around 7.30ish?

"If the weather is coming from the west it doesn't look good as it's darker than a caveman's underpants here at Heathrow," reports Chris Rawes. What a lovely image...

4.45pm: George reports that it is hailing now, which is not a propitious sign. And here's Fakhar Alam: "I'm at the ground. It's proper pouring down here by buckets. I reckon that's the game called off :(" Don't reckon against The Oval drainage, Fakhar. I sat there watching it lash down until gone 9pm during the Champions Trophy a couple of summers ago

4.40pm: Covers firmly on again, a white plastic cross through the heart of this game. Still bucketing down, not quite as dark as the Battle of Winterfell, but you'd still need to squint out there... Sit tight, folks.

"60 minutes back, I told Andrew to switch to IPL ...but he didn't , U have got a chance Alan!!" I have to sit here watching the rain, Vinod Rajpal, but you lot are free to have a gander if you like

And now it's raining again! D'oh... Off go the players as umbrellas sprout around the ground once again. One. Of. Those. Days. Hopefully it'll blow through soon enough

Here's Duncan Ward on that missed stumping: "Foakes would have had that... #justsayin"

"Weather in Europe is unpredictable, every week there are chances of rain. World Cup will be affected definitely..!!" Yes, Ramesh Kumar, you're right, there's just so much rain

"Re the rain. England is not known as a green and pleasant land because of the sunshine!" chuckles Edward Bowden

"What you would be a good target considering the revised overs?" I reckon 400 would be a good score, Brohi. Can't go wrong if you get 400

No more Root, as Adil Rashid and his twirly wrists get a piece of the action

Ben Stokes on for Plunkett after the delay

Alrighty... This more like it. The England players are gathering at the bottom of the steps from the Oval changing rooms, hands thrust into pockets. The English summer, eh! (Although it's still technically spring.) Imam and Haris are also back into the fray, clear skies above. Systems are go once again

4.11pm Right, seeing as my main role today seems to be rain compere, I'll hand over to Alan for the actual cricket side of things.

4.08pm It's a 4.15pm restart! We will be down to 41 overs a side.

Babar: "I live 2 minutes from the ground and the sun is waving at my window. " Looks like we'll be able to wave back soon!

3.59pm Neil: "Yep, I believe the World Cup will be affected by the weather. Who chose to have such a big event in these parts? Don't understand! " Outrageous isn't it. Down with this sort of thing!

Ammad Rehman : "England is the worst venue for cricket.Every match get spoil by rain, and it is annoying!" This is in fact, gospel truth. No match in the history of English cricket has ever been played to a conclusion.

Shakir Qadeer A: "I am sitting at 7, 8 miles away from the stadium and the sun is shining here. how come it is still raining there?" For the very same reason that every conversation in England revolves around the weather.

Shaz K: "are the central covers off ? I am at work and switching my screen to cricinfo's like at a speed of 100 times per minute to see some good news...." Nope, still raining I'm afraid ...

3.51pm Ameer : "The rain is getting annoying, I wonder if this will occur in the World Cup too?" I would strongly suspect so, yes!

3.47pm The central covers are still firmly in place unfortunately, though the umpires are umbrella-less as they patrol the outfield.

Robin: "I think Woakes will benefit from having Archer in the side. In the past for England its often been the case that Woakes bowls well but pressure is relieved from the other end. Having two quality opening bowlers will really help England." I think the whole team will benefit, but yes, that is a fair point. Bowling in partnerships is key in all levels of cricket.

3.35pm The brief mopping-up continues. We shouldn't be delayed for long, though there is some drizzle in the air.

Vinod Rajpal: "Come on Andrew, Switch to IPL !!" Well, I won't, but you are welcome to take a peek. It's Elimination Day in Visakhapatnam

Hail stops play! Zoinks, that came from nowhere, we will be out of action for a few minutes here! The covers are a little slow in making their appearance, the groundstaff were caught on the hop, but that also suggests it's just a passing shower. Let's hope so. In fact, it's already stopped!

Anil sharma: "Definately passing showers/hails. We saw this in watford some time back but did not stay longer than 10 mins and now sunny...." Mind you, nothing stays in Watford for long. Except maybe Luther Blissett

Root to continue. Wonder what Denly makes of this