Sigh. How frustrating. The positive news, I guess, is that the forecast looks good for the remaining four days of this Test.

So, as we sit tight and wait, here is something for all you Tailenders fans... the latest episode is now available for you to listen.

Stuart Broad, the newest member of the 500 Test wickets club, joins Greg, Jimmy and Felix to discuss the art of bowling, the Ashes and life in a bubble.

Plus, Mattchin is back with a new game, more on ’The Declare Flare’ and the odd technical difficulty!

Image source, BBC Sport

I don't get it. It isn't raining. It hasn't rained for a while. Why wait another 20 minutes for another inspection?

The wait goes on...

I said the inspection looked promising...

The umpires are in the middle and the inspection is taking place. There are no brollies up. This is promising.

Meanwhile, the England team seem to be having a great time on the outfield. They've got a football on the go and are playing the header challenge.

The aim of the game? Head the ball to each other, without letting it hit the ground, and the final man has to head it into an empty bin.

Root heads to Woakes, Pope with the assist and it comes off Mark Wood's bonce and straight into the bin.

Celebrations and fist bumps all round.

Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport at Emirates Old Trafford

Covers coming off. A hokey cokey.

Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport at Emirates Old Trafford

Hang on. The covers are back on...

With the outfield currently being mopped up and it looking a lot brighter out there, there will be a pitch inspection at 17:00 BST.

Keep your fingers crossed that there is no rain over the next 25 minutes and we see some more cricket on day one at Emirates Old Trafford.

Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport at Emirates Old Trafford

There is a lot of water to clear, and the groundstaff are doing it under warm sunshine. The feeling is we'll get more wet stuff, but will we get some more play before it arrives? There will be an inspection at 17:00 BST.

A bit of good news. It seems to have stopped raining for now and the sun is piercing through the still somewhat grey clouds. The big covers are coming off.

I'm hopeful.

Will keep you updated on any word from the umpires.

From the two quick England wickets to some fantastic batting from Babar Azam, I'll leave you (for now) with some of the best videos from the day's play...

In defence of Manchester, I've just had a look at the weather radar and there are a fair few places across the country where it is raining.

However, it is still dark and pouring at Old Trafford and there is no sign of an immediate restart. So we're going to take a bit of a breather and will of course be back with any updates.

In the meantime, you can occupy yourselves by reading this feature on former Pakistan quick Shoaib Akhtar or TMS pundit Azhar Mahmood's preview of this series.

Rob Meech: I was really looking forward to getting home from work, slumping on the sofa and watching the cricket for a few hours. I saw one ball before the rain arrived. That’s the problem with having three Tests in Manchester while everywhere else is bathed in sunshine.

Nicola Curtis: It's my birthday, I have the day off, got in from a lovely lunch with a plan to spend the rest of the day on the sofa watching the cricket and it is raining. Manchesterrrrrrrr!!

England's nemesis looks like she's enjoying a return to training in Australia. England, remember, are back in action next month when they face South Africa in Derby.

BIG statement there from Charles in Somerset.

Let's get you riled up with some more of your unpopular cricket opinions...

And just to reinforce Stephan's comments, here is the weather forecast for the rest of the afternoon/early evening...