England’s assistant coach Paul Farbrace was disappointed to see rain curtail England’s bid to build a big lead over India at Old Trafford, but conceded it would have been dangerous to resume the match with conditions as they were.
England had reached 237 for six and a first-innings lead of 85 over India when the players were forced off by a torrential downpour during the afternoon session on Day 2.
Water collected on the outfield and although the weather improved in the evening, ground staff could not get the playing area sufficiently ready for play to resume.
England, after being troubled by India in the morning session, had been reasserting their grip on proceedings with Joe Root unbeaten on 48 at that point.
Root had shared in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand with Jos Buttler, who was 22 not out.
Only during what should have been the tea interval – which was official taken as scheduled at 3.40pm – did the weather relent, allowing ground staff to begin a mopping-up operation.
The square was soon ready for action and most of the outfield, which had been covered in puddles, drained well, but a large area at one end was still under water.
The water was eventually cleared but the area remained muddy and umpires Marais Erasmus and Rod Tucker felt they had little option than to abandon play for the day.
Asked if the conditions in the affected areas were dangerous for the players, Farbrace told Sky Sports 2: “Of course it is. I’m sure the Indians also wouldn’t be too keen to see the ball keep disappearing into that, getting wet and boggy.
“The umpires can’t keep changing the ball every time it goes in there and it would ruin the ball, the seam would become soft quickly, so I don’t think either team would really be pleased with that.
“It is a pity though because, so far, it’s been a very good game. The pitch is fantastic, it’s accelerated the game forward nicely and it was a good partnership developing between ‘Butts’ (Buttler) and ‘Rooty’ (Root) there, so we didn’t really want to come off when we did came off, to be fair.”
England will feel frustrated after wresting back the initiative following a difficult morning in which they lost three quick wickets.
The hosts had begun the day looking to build a commanding lead but India, chiefly through their pacemen, threatened to get back into contention.
Ian Bell, 45 overnight, reached his half-century in the second over but the luckless Pankaj Singh – still seeking his first Test wicket – and Bhuvneshwar Kumar caused problems from the outset.
Nightwatchman Chris Jordan rode his luck slightly on his way to 13 and then failed to get on top of a rising bouncer from Kumar to pull a catch to the diving Varun Aaron at midwicket.
Kumar then accounted for Bell for 58 with some fine swing bowling. Bell was fortunate to survive after a fine outswinger narrowly missed the edge but there was to be no escape as he nicked the next delivery behind to MS Dhoni.
Root survived but he endured some awkward moments, not least when he left a Kumar delivery that almost clipped his off stump.
Root took nine balls to get off the mark and then brought the scores level with a good push through the covers for three off Kumar.
Moeen Ali pulled Kumar for successive fours but he still seemed uncomfortable against the short ball and India continued to test him. Root also seemed uneasy against such tactics and was struck on the helmet by Aaron, who went on to out-think Ali.
Ali squirmed two on the legside after again being forced onto his back foot but the next delivery was full and straight, and he played around it to lose his off stump.
That left England 170 for six, 18 ahead. Root and Buttler were shaky but survived until lunch and then began to play more freely.
Farbrace said of the 23-year-old wicketkeeper: “I thought he was very watchful. Jos showed today that he really can fight, get stuck in, he’s a talented cricketer with so much to give. Their partnership was just starting to go in the right direction today.
“An 85 lead at this stage, I think we’re in a quite a good position, but we want to bat on and get as a big a lead as we can tomorrow.”
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