For much of the day one of the only areas of the ground that could be described as crowded was the most easterly of the unused pitches, clearly recently reseeded and as a result attracting unusual numbers of pigeons. In the similarly sought-after spots on the lower slopes of the Party Stand the supporters’ most raucous cheers were prompted not by the game being played in front of them but those they improvised themselves, perhaps with a beach ball or by constructing a tower of empty cups on the head of a snoozing spectator.
Lancashire’s website advertised a special offer on remaining tickets for Saturday – as of tea on Thursday there were still 3,281 available, about 12.5% of the ground’s capacity. Somehow – and unrelated to the rain that washed out the morning – it is fair to say that interest in this series has yet to catch fire.
In between people constantly banging on about the still-distant Ashes and the distracting announcement on Thursday morning – regularly trailed on the big screens – of dates for the infinitely more hypeable visit of India next summer (“It’s Cricket but BIGGER,” as Lancashire put it on their socials) it has hardly had a chance.
Perhaps there is a sense that we have seen it all before. After all, in England’s last Test, against West Indies at Edgbaston last month, they fielded first after losing the toss, restricted their opponents to fewer than 300 runs, started their response poorly and turned their innings around after the arrival of Jamie Smith, who came to the crease when they were 113 behind.
What a contrast to this game, when they fielded first after losing the toss, restricted their opponents to fewer than 300 runs, started their response poorly and turned their innings around after the arrival of Jamie Smith, who came to the crease when they were 111 behind. They were nursing a lead of 23, with four wickets remaining, when darkness and then rain ended play prematurely.
But even in front of a disappointingly sparse crowd, on another inclement Manchester day (at one point Angelo Mathews, in search of some moisture to assist with his attempts to shine the ball and with absolutely no chance of producing his own, asked the bowler if he could borrow some sweat) and in something widely considered a shoulder-shrug of a series, the sport insisted on being, if not thrilling, then certainly interesting.
That was despite Kamindu Mendis, the 25-year-old Sri Lankan who intriguingly bowls right- and left-arm spin, remaining unused but for a couple of overs as the gloom descended in the late afternoon. It was one of those days when, every time nothing interesting seemed to be happening, something really surprising happened.
The only successful reviews from either side came in the space of three balls early on, in which time Dan Lawrence was reprieved and Ben Duckett condemned – the umpire, Paul Reiffel, was presumably still busy brooding about the first decision when he should have been making the second.
Though the bowling was often uninspired it was illuminated by flashes of brilliance. Ollie Pope, whose first innings as England captain lasted eight balls, and Harry Brook, who had looked in superb touch as he scored 56, had the top of their off stumps clipped by deliveries that contrasted in every way but their excellence, the former courtesy of Asitha Fernando’s right-arm seam, the latter Prabath Jayasuriya’s left-arm spin.
Dhananjaya de Silva’s fields were often a little generous – from the start he had three fielders in the deep, two of them on the leg side, offering easy singles when the ball strayed on to the pads. Occasionally, he broke out into deep-funk improvisation: here a silly mid-on for Brook, there a silly point for Chris Woakes.
On Wednesday, England’s innings had started against spin from both ends, it being too dark for seam to be safely bowled. Almost exactly 24 hours later, when the umpires decided they had to impose the same conditions, De Silva decided to take his team off. That he did so was probably down to Smith, who was on 72 and looking concerningly or encouragingly good, depending on your allegiance.
He hit Kamindu commandingly through the covers twice in the bowler’s first over, the first holding up on a slow outfield for three, the second rocketing all the way to the boundary padding, and had previously dumped Jayasuriya down the ground for six.
Neither bowler would have particularly fancied extended exposure to a batter high in confidence and ready, with Woakes having just fallen to a second spectacularly unexpected Jayasuriya ripper, to remove the shackles.
When nobody really imposed themselves it had just started to look as if Smith, like the denizens of the Party Stand, was playing a game all of his own.
