Cricket pics

Today was a washout in the cricket, as was the better part of yesterday, meaning the game ended in a dank, dismal draw. Such a shame, and quite ironic given all the fire and hosepipe bans up and down the country that two successive tests should be ruined by rain. For me that's the biggest failing of test cricket. I don't have a problem with a draw in a match that goes the full 450 overs (or close to it) - indeed having to bowl out your opponents twice within the scheduled lifespan of a match is an important part of the game - but when rain wipes out a third of the allotted overs it makes everything that came before seem so frustratingly pointless. And apart from scheduling an extra day, which could cause logistical headaches, I don't have the answer.

As I sat on the bank bathed in sunshine on day one, there was no inkling of the eventual outcome, even if rain was forecast for the latter stages of the match. England were totally dominant on the opening day, and virtually all the noise in the ground came from the travelling Barmy Army. Here are a few pictures from the Basin Reserve:

There was some excitement early on as Alastair Cook was removed for 17 but the next (and only other) wicket of the day wouldn't come for another five hours.

Lunchtime; people came onto the oval, many with bats and balls in hand.

The Barmy Army complete with conductor and trumpeter who played theme tunes to shows like Grandstand that I remember from childhood. They even played the darts theme tune at one point; slightly confused by this I looked up at the scoreboard and saw England had reached 180.

A century for Nick Compton (grandson of the famous Denis Compton who played both cricket and football at the highest levels). Jonathan Trott had reached the same milestone a few balls earlier.

Compton didn't add to his 100 runs; Kevin Pietersen then came out to bat.

The duck that had been in or around the square for the whole morning session (and was possibly the main highlight for an hour or two) came to pay us a visit just before close of play.

The scoreboard at stumps. Trott was still there but fell almost immediately at the start of day two. Strangely the "overs" counter reset to zero when the new ball was taken at the 80-over mark.