Summary

  1. Goodbyepublished at 18:45 British Summer Time 22 August

    Right, that's us done with day two from Old Trafford.

    Take a read of Stephan Shemilt's report, and tune into the highlights on BBC Two and iPlayer from 19:00 BST. There'll also be a Test Match Special podcast ready shortly.

    We'll see you all tomorrow for an 11:00 BST start.

    Whoever you are, and especially if you're Grandma Wilson, have a good evening.

  2. Postpublished at 18:43 British Summer Time 22 August

    The evening session was a slow-scoring affair, brightened by a couple of superb deliveries from Prabath Jayasuriya to bowl Brook and Chris Woakes.

    But Jamie Smith became the second England batter to make a half-century, finding himself on 72* when conditions brought the day to a close.

    England are on 259-6, a lead of 23.

  3. Postpublished at 18:39 British Summer Time 22 August

    Joe Root and Harry Brook put on 58, but the former was dismissed by Asitha Fernando just short of his half century.

    Brook, however, pushed on to reach the landmark.

  4. Postpublished at 18:37 British Summer Time 22 August

    Let's take a quick dash back through today's play.

    The morning session was wiped out by the Manchester rain, but play got under way in the afternoon, with England's top three falling relatively swiftly.

  5. Close of playpublished at 18:34 British Summer Time 22 August

    That's it, we've had word from the middle - play is unsurprisingly over for the day.

    I'm not sure there's any spectators left in the ground anyway.

  6. Postpublished at 18:31 British Summer Time 22 August

    Russel Arnold
    Ex-Sri Lanka all-rounder on BBC Test Match Special

    It is not a nice day for Sri Lanka considering the conditions. It is windy, they will feel this cold on their hands.

    But they handled it well. At times, yes, they went searching for wickets a bit too often and that's when you saw them straying on to the pads rather than that disciplined line outside off stump because that's where the wickets came from.

    I think it comes down to patience.

  7. Postpublished at 18:29 British Summer Time 22 August

    Michael Vaughan
    Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special

    This is why Test matches at Old Trafford are so entertaining. You can be going along, thinking it's quite smooth but all of a sudden one ball can cause a few tricks and it changes. As a batter you've got to be good enough to get through that.

    But that's why Sri Lanka are in this game if they can keep this lead down. Their batting could suit this surface. They'll face a lot of Bashir, who will feel in the game, but they are very used to facing off-spin.

    This is where Mark Wood becomes so important for England. He's bowling 95mph, that's a huge point of difference and that's what Sri Lanka didn't have today.

    I've loved the pitch, it's kept both sides interested.

  8. Postpublished at 18:26 British Summer Time 22 August

    Russel Arnold
    Ex-Sri Lanka all-rounder on BBC Test Match Special

    Sri Lanka hung in there, they persevered. They did lots of things right.

    But if I'm going to be critical, they didn't control the run rate even with the fields they set and that's because of how England play, the style of batter that they have. They are able to tick off the runs, poking it into the gaps.

    Until that one ball turned to Harry Brook, England played the spinner quite easily but Jayasuriya really came into the game after that. He was able to bowl with confidence, use his variations and that slowed England down.

    But all in all, it's a good day. They are not miles behind. Tomorrow morning, they need to clean up quickly.

  9. Postpublished at 18:23 British Summer Time 22 August

    The umpires are still meandering around on the square, but the covers are being pulled on to shield the bowlers' run-ups.

    We're still waiting for news.

  10. Postpublished at 18:20 British Summer Time 22 August

    Michael Vaughan
    Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special

    It's been a really high-quality day of Test match cricket. If you look at the dismissals, Ben Duckett got a good ball swinging back in, just lost his balance as he wasn't expecting it.

    Ollie Pope got a beauty, a nip-backer, Dan Lawrence was a bit scratchy for 30 and Sri Lanka exploited him because of how he likes to play across the front pad.

    The two dismissals from the spinner just came from nowhere. Nothing had been turning but that was sharp. I think Sri Lanka will be pleased with how they bowled.

    Occasionally it did look quite nice to bat against the seamers, apart from Asitha Fernando, but it was a really hard-fought day of Test cricket. They made England really work for that 23-run lead.

    The problem for Sri Lanka is Jamie Smith. He's a serious player, he's making Test cricket look very simple. Similarly to Harry Brook, they both just look like they are "in" as soon as they face their first ball.

    If Smith bats another hour or so tomorrow, England can get 100 or so ahead and that'll be very hard to come back from.

  11. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 18:20 British Summer Time 22 August

    #bbccricket, via WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (standard network charges apply)

    Lots of people complaining about the Manchester weather this morning. Feel it necessary to point out Old Trafford isn't actually in Manchester...

    Donald, NYC

    Hold on, Donald. Old Trafford may not be within the boundaries of Manchester council (it's in Trafford), but it most certainly in Greater Manchester.

    It's not like anyone stands in Hackney and claims they're not in London...

  12. Postpublished at 18:13 British Summer Time 22 August

    While we wait to hear from the umpires, let's take a look at the two glorious deliveries bowled by Prabath Jayasuriya to dismiss Harry Brook and Chris Woakes.

    The one to dismiss Brook turned 6.26° with Woakes' demise coming after one which turned 5.52°.

    But that's nothing to Prabath. He once bowled a delivery in Bangladesh which turned 12.36° - that one missed the outside edge. Don Bradman would've struggled to get bat on that...

  13. Postpublished at 18:09 British Summer Time 22 August

    Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent

    We've had 61 of the 90 overs. When you look at the forecast we've done pretty well there.

  14. Bad light stops playpublished at 18:08 British Summer Time 22 August

    Aha, and we're off, for now at least.

    I suspect that's it for the day though - I'm not sure if it's the light or the drizzle that's taken them off, but it's hard to imagine either getting any better in time for a resumption.

    England likely close on 259-6, that's a lead of 23.

  15. Eng 259-6published at 61 overs

    Asitha Fernando returns in place of Kamindu Mendis and Smith pulls his third ball to the mid-wicket fence.

    A further single into the off side takes him to 73.

    Incidentally, maybe Benedict Cumberbatch went to university in Manchester. Maybe he's our most recent correspondent?

    Probably up for Alex Hartley's barbecue.

  16. Postpublished at 18:03 British Summer Time 22 August

    Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent

    It's been a topsy-turvy sort of day today. It looks like England will be poised to press on whenever they get on the ground again tomorrow.

  17. Postpublished at 18:02 British Summer Time 22 August

    I hate to say it, Benedict, but there's a few umbrellas up at Old Trafford...

  18. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 18:01 British Summer Time 22 August

    #bbccricket, via WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (standard network charges apply)

    Just wondering where our rain naysayers have gone? If anything, the rain has made this game more interesting due to length and condition changes. I LOVE RAIN.

    Benedict, Manchester

  19. Eng 252-6published at 60 overs

    Oh, an expensive Jayasuriya over!

    Eight from it, with a trio of twos for Jamie Smith.

  20. Eng 244-6published at 59 overs

    Kamindu Mendis continues, and England's batters work him around for five singles to extend England's lead to eight.