Ooofff, already lively from Chameera, nipping one back to pin Hales on the hip. Decent pace, in the mid-80s, bounce too. Hales doubles over like a man who has been jabbed in the gut. Cook adds a single off his pads to go within 20 of the 10,000 club. 

Tom Fordyce
Chief sports writer at Headingley

"Only 28 runs scored in the first 15 overs in the first hour of the first morning. Last night in Bangalore, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli helped Royal Challengers score 211 in the same number of overs. Some might feel that T20 is eating Test cricket alive. Others might prefer to celebrate the diversity of a sport that can produce two such contrasting scenarios."

Now then, a change after drinks. Dushmantha Chameera into the attack. Expect some pace. He's probably the quickest bowler on show from either side.

Graeme Swann
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

"They say you're not a real spinner until you've been hit onto the rugby pitch at Headingley. I saw David Sales do it three times in a row to James Middlebrook."

Mathews to complete what has been a very sedate first hour, greeted by a crackerjack back-foot drive for four by Hales. Back to the dots, though, five more of them taking us to drinks.

Pradeep continues what has turned into a lengthy opening spell, probing round the wicket to Cook. The skipper, watchful on and around off stump, finally gets the scoreboard moving with the first runs in more than three overs with a couple pushed square. 

Gideon Coe: Cauliflower of uncertainty, Uncovered Brisket, (thin) sticks of Rhubarb.

George Bainbridge: Boycott's 3-course menu - Yorks puddings + gravy for start, 8-hour slow-cooked Yorkshire lamb main and rhubarb crumble pud.

Angelo Mathews brings himself into the attack for the first time, shuffling in towards Hales with three slips and a gully in place. Hales, who moves across his stumps as a trigger movement, is watchful in defence for the third successive maiden. Proper crick-eeet, this.

Geoffrey Boycott
Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

"Alex Hales is too gung-ho - his strength is crack-it-and-whack-it. His feet were all over the place in South Africa. And Nick Compton is the opposite - too defensive."

Image source, AP

Mark, that is outstanding. A classic episode of the Simpsons. It's got me thinking about cricketers that could be recruited as ringers for the office team. Alastair Cook works in the canteen, obviously. Ben Stokes probably does security and Joe Root is the work experience kid. Pradeep round the wicket to Cook, who plays and misses for the first time to one that scuttles through. And again! This time bounce and nip. Good over.

Eeeeesh. That's flashy from Hales, probably too flashy for the first morning of a Test match. Lord Flashheart, if you will. Very wide from Eranga, Hales looking to drive, getting nothing. If he'd edged that, Trevor Bayliss would have beaten the living tar out of him. Remembering he's got five days to bat, Hales leaves the rest alone.

Geoffrey Boycott
Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

"You have a chance at Headingley if you pitch the ball up. Jack Brooks does it beautifully for Yorkshire. But if you miss your length, it's very good for batting nowadays. And Sri Lanka haven't made England play enough."

Nice from Cook, the England skipper with three tons to his name already this season. With Pradeep round the wicket, Cook reaches out to drive square for four. Polite applause, nothing more. On the England balcony, Ben Stokes sits under a hood like a man who has just got out of bed. On the live text desk, I'm having my first sandwich.

Graeme Swann
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

"Is it too Draconian for Andrew Strauss to insist that if players like Alex Hales are going to have tattoos, they have to wear long-sleeved shirts? They look dreadful - second-division footballer terrible. They'll regret it when they're older, as my mum always used to say."

Better from Eranga, late awayswing to defeat the grope of the tattooed Alex Hales. Hales must be the most tattooed England opener of all time, no? He's got the full sleeve on his right arm. Feeling his way, the tall Notts man defends ahead of his front pad then is drawn into a clothes-line hang of the bat outside off stump. Four between third slip and gully. Edgy.

Image source, Reuters

Genuine sunshine as Pradeep, towel in the back of his trousers, hurries his mullet-less head towards Cook, who is dragged wide of the off stump for the first time. In the crowd, some revelers have come dressed as pints of lager, while Stuart Broad's father Chris sits alone in a blue blazer. Too wide from Pradeep, England untroubled so far.