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Updates from the 11am BST start at Emirates Old Trafford
Pope lifts ‘weight off shoulders’ to put England in control

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10.40am BST
And the first message of the morning comes from... Gary Naylor! “Hi @TimdeLisle.” Hi Gary, do you ever – sorry, you were saying? “I was amazed to find out earlier that Jos Buttler’s highest first class score (144 off 268 deliveries) was notched 10 years ago! On this pitch against this weary attack, he’ll never have a better chance of beating that.” That’s a very good spot. Though it also has a whiff of the curse of the commentator.
1.38pm BST
Morning everyone and welcome back to one of sport’s oldest and most thrilling contests: cricket v the weather. No Test series has ever had more matches in Manchester than this one, and Manchester has not let us down. Today may not turn out as bad as it looked like being a couple of days ago, which, in Manchester, is about as good as it gets. The latest from the Met Office gives a 60pc chance of rain delaying the start and a 10pc chance of rain in every hour thereafter. That sounds like enough for the match to move along.
England find themselves in an unexpectedly strong position. Put in to bat again by Jason Holder, they subsided to 122 for four. Ben Stokes only got 20: if there had been a crowd, they would have asked for their money back. And because of Stokes being unlikely to bowl, England were already down to their last two proper batsmen – neither of them in great form. On such moments, series turn. Ollie Pope batted like Ollie Pope abroad (Test average 62), not Ollie Pope at home (Test average 16 until yesterday). Jos Buttler batted like Jos Buttler in the year from May 2018 (higher average than Joe Root), not Jos Buttler in the year after the World Cup (lower average than Joe Denly). Together they added 136 in 38 overs of stylish defiance. Continue reading...