Manchester, Day 2

Pakistan 119 & 12/0, England 461/9 declared

It’s been a long day in the sun. Top, top weather, and great cricket. England, revelling in the sunshine, batted very well today, and really should win the game from here. After Pietersen unfortunately got out in the first over of the day, we saw Ian Bell play an outstanding knock to finish on 106 not out, some great shots from Collingwood and Alastair Cook complete a fine century. On a more personal note, my arms and knees are on fire. Could have made more judicious use of the sun lotion.

Still, it’s been a great day, rounded off by a meal at a local establishment, as local as multinational chain restaurants get…

A word more about our hotel room. It’s got a disabled-access bathroom, which is fine except that there is no bath or shower cubicle to shower in. The shower head is simply fixed to the wall, and a very slight incline in the floor drains all the water away, provided you don’t turn the power up above 30% or so… Mark hadn’t worked this out last night, hence the flooded bathroom. Tonight we improvised some coastal defences with a couple of towels. He has just re-emerged after another visit tonight and reports that the defences have been breached, which is unfortunate… will have to check the tides before my next visit.

So, tomorrow beckons. Not sure how much cricket we’ll get tomorrow as the forecast is a little ropey. And I don’t have an umbrella or a raincoat. But that’s all for tomorrow. Meantime I’ll finish my cup of tea and settle down to watch the highlights of today’s play… night night