Are traffic cones a legitimate item of fancy-dress clothing? Surely that's just standard issue night-out uniform? Regardless, some joyous souls in the crowd adorn these wonderful orange and white crowns and chant away to "Barmy Army". Amir keeps it short in this over and tries a few different lines but England once again wary of the danger.

Phil Tufnell
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

Looks nice to face the seamers on this pitch now. Not a lot of demons in it.

Runs at last. Cook relieves the boredom for the scorers with a double and then a single off Sohail. I'm sure all those relaxing by the sea/mountains/office desks are jumping up and down with joy.

Glorious view. I once played cricket in the snow during a trekking expedition in a place called Gangtok (India), about 5,000 feet above sea level. The only time a full toss has been an acceptable delivery probably. Amir tests the air around Hales' outside edge, but the batsman is having none of it. A maiden in the end.

A game of fine margins, this. Sohail strays low and wide of off stump and Cook cuts away between slips and gully cleaner than my wife's handwriting. A few inches straighter from Sohail and Cook edges towards slips and falls short. Sohail then gets it really wrong and bowls it short and wide. Cook. Cut. Four. 

Phil Tufnell
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

I once ducked a bowl from Nantie Hayward. It went straight across my back and left me with a line of a bruise.

Amir has three slips and a gully to Hales, a short mid-off and a mid-on. So basically good cover inside the circle. The Notts man is not in the best of form, and also takes a blow on his shoulder blade from an Amir bumper. As Shakespeare once said (probably) - "that'll wake him up".  

Benjamin Parry: Working a 16 hour shift in A&E and checking the scores when I can. The pic of the guy listening on a boat makes me cry a little.

That is a very lovely view Gerard. Perfect for watching this phase of play, which is one of gentle settling-in, after the madness and chaos of the second session. Even the crowd are sort of gently relaxing - vocally anyway. Right-armer Sohail again from over the wicket, and Cook easily clips off his pads for one to square leg.

What is the formula is for number of celebratory press-ups, by the way? Something complicated like the one they use at SETI? Or simple like what Einstein helped with? How many press-ups if you score a double hundred? 

Amir has a simple formula for the moment, over the wicket and straight. Add straight bat from Hales and it equals a maiden.

Mark Stevens: A plucky 20 or so should see Hales retained for the next couple of series.

A massive hashtag on the building will do nicely. Something along the lines of #thisisalargebuilding as well perhaps? Sohail Khan shares new-ball duties with Amir. Sohail, who joined the press-ups gang in the first innings with his five-fer, will relish bowling to Hales again, having found his edge on day one. So far, Hales manages to leave well with Sohail grunting in from over the wicket and sneaks a single off the final ball.

Perfect start for Alex Hales who gets down low to smoothly drive Amir for four through covers. Full and wide from the left-armer, and Hales gobbles those up for his second lunch.

Phil Tufnell
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

Hales can't just drop anchor. A session of him and England will be up with Pakistan. It's beautifully poised. This is where the game begins.

Cheers Justin. So apparently there's some big month-long exercise feast going on down in Rio at the moment. No reason why we can't get into the spirit of that eh? And like the 10,000m race, where the heroic local lad comes in from the back to reach the middle, in hopes of a podium finish, with Chariots of Fire in the background, England have fought at Edgbaston. We have about half this race to go, methinks, so more drama to come I'm sure. Amir with the first over, Cook to face. On your marks!