Summary

  • Play abandoned after 17 balls of day three

  • Nicholls passes 50 from 149 balls

  • NZ resumed on 229-4 (led by 171)

  • All but 23 overs lost to rain on day two

  1. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 01:53 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    #bbccricket or text 81111

    We had a great chat last night about the most obscure places you've played cricket with people tweeting in about playing in Fiji, Borneo, Hawaii and the Falklands to name a few.

    Some of those pictures you sent us has got me thinking - where is the most picturesque place you have played or watched cricket?

    We've already had a good discussion in the office. A personal favourite of mine is Keswick Cricket Club in the Lake District (see below) but I want to hear from you.

    Let us know your favourites whether they're in the UK or abroad. If you've got a picture even better. Tweet us at #bbccricket or text 81111.

    Keswick Cricket ClubImage source, Getty Images
  2. Postpublished at 01:45 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    Oh. Sorry everyone. All that positivity has come back to bite us on the backside.

    There's no easy way to break this to you... it's raining again.

    Covers back on.

    Umpires inspect the pitchImage source, Getty Images
  3. Postpublished at 01:41 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    Aggers said we have a two-hour window during which we should get play and here is the forecast to prove it.

    That's a definite improvement.

    Those times are local time so 15:00 is 02:00 GMT.

    Auckland weather
  4. Postpublished at 01:36 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    And just as I say we have had no information on the restart we get word from the umpires!

    We're going to restart play at 02:15 GMT.

  5. Postpublished at 01:34 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

    Looking at the radar there is a two-hour window of definite play.

  6. Postpublished at 01:33 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    There has been no official information on a restart time but Aggers has some positive news...

  7. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 01:32 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    #bbccricket

    Aidan Ward: Another issue with these day/night Tests is by the time you get out it’s hard to find decent places still open to eat. Five days of eating in the ground ain’t good at all.

  8. Postpublished at 01:28 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    Graeme Swann
    Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    They have rugby grounds completely under cover so why not cricket? Especially in the era of drop-in pitches. There will be technology with drones carrying a giant sheet. I'm a science fiction fan so something involving lasers like in Star Wars.

  9. Postpublished at 01:24 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    Good news. The rain seems to have stopped at Eden Park and the big white covers are being taken off at least.

  10. Postpublished at 01:21 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    Vic Marks
    Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    I don't think we should have day-night Tests in England.

  11. Postpublished at 01:16 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    Graeme Swann
    Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    I think we should give day-night cricket a bit longer. I quite enjoyed it last year in England.

  12. Postpublished at 01:11 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    That's a very good point, Charlotte. If this game was not a day-night Test then we probably would have seen more play.

    The boys on TMS have been discussing the future of Test cricket and day-night cricket in particular.

  13. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 01:06 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    #bbccricket

    Charlotte Hill: If this had just been a regular day test match, we'd have got a full morning session yesterday and today. Was Auckland in autumn wise?

  14. Postpublished at 01:02 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

    It is quite bright out there and is not raining particularly hard. It is actually brighter now than when we started.

  15. The TMS viewpointpublished at 00:59 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    TMS boxImage source, BBC Sport
  16. Postpublished at 00:55 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    Pop star Ed Sheeran was on hand to help the players pass the time during the rain delays yesterday as shown in the Instagram pictures below.

    Cue jokes about James Vince, Ed Sheeran and England's number three batting position...

    Kane Williamson and Ed SheeranImage source, Instagram
    Trent Boult and Ed SheeranImage source, Instagram
    James Vince Ed Sheeran Mark WoodImage source, Instagram
  17. Postpublished at 00:48 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    So just 17 balls was all we managed there.

    By all accounts it's breezy in Auckland and the sky doesn't look too dark. Hopefully play can restart in the not too distant future.

  18. Postpublished at 00:46 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    Vic Marks
    Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    It's a marginal call by the umpires with the weather. They are going off a little early here perhaps. It's a flicker of rain but there are blue patches of sky. It's light flurries of rain. How will England feel? I suppose that draw becomes a bit more likely if say Alastair Cook and someone else can bat for a long period.

  19. rain stops play

    Rain stops playpublished at 95 overs

    Aaaaand just after that chance the light rain which has been around since the start of play gets too heavy and the players are off. The covers come on and this is an all-too familiar sight in this match.

    Players walk off as rain fallsImage source, Getty Images
  20. Postpublished at 00:42 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    Vic Marks
    Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    That was a poor choice of run for BJ Watling. He would have been clearly out. It was in the right region but the throw was three or four feet off target. That's two run out opportunities missed for England now.

    BJ WatlingImage source, Reuters