In fact, the hover cover is being brought on to protect the square.

Let's hope this is just a passing shower and play can still start on time.

Russell Masters: Spitting with rain at Lord’s…

Not what we want to hear, Russell!

Hopefully it is not heavy enough to cause a delay - we will let you know if we hear anything.

Daily ZaltzQuiz:

A reminder of Andy’s Stats based quiz for the day:

A maidens-related question for you to ponder and take a guess at (wildly, educatedly, or otherwise) as you wait for the CrucialFirstHourTM of the Lord’s Test.

Since the start of the Stokes-McCullum period, as a batting side, England have played out just 168 maidens out of 1696 overs (counting completed overs, plus overs left incomplete at the end of innings but from which runs had already been scored).

(a) Out of all the overs bowled at England over the two years prior to the beginning of the StokesoMcCullumistic revolution began last summer how many maiden overs (to the nearest percent) did England face?

And (b) can you also guess the proportion of overs bowled by England since June last year which have been maidens?

For context, Australia won the Edgbaston Test despite bowling only eight maidens, out of 144 completed overs. Only once has a winning team bowled fewer maidens in a 6-balls-per-over Test – Australia bowled 7 (out of 81) in their victory against Sri Lanka in Galle last year.

In terms of total maidens bowled as a percentage of the total overs bowled by a winning team, at 5.5%, England’s Edgbaston figure was by far the lowest in the history of six-balls-per-over Test cricket (comprising 2275 of the men's 2507 matches played).

We will bring you the answer shortly before the toss at 10:00 BST.

Gideon Haigh in the Australian, external discusses the special rivalry between England and Australia.

"As much a part of the soundscape of an Ashes summer as willow on leather is the mutual baiting and back chat of the rival camps. Perhaps it is a little riper than usual, given the kulturkampf of Bazball v CumonAussie. But in a game where the wait is almost as much a part as the play, this cheerily contained antagonism is what we live for.

"It seems to me that this goes to the very heart of the Ashes’ appeal – the relishable freedom to treat what’s ultimately quite unimportant as a matter of life and death.

"Perhaps most of all is it in every huff and puff of rival players and fans in the Ashes tradition, on the brink of permissible rudeness, but with a laugh blessedly never too far away, and a pleasure in the ease of pushing each others’ buttons."

Also in the Sydney Morning Herald, external, former Australia captain Mark Taylor says England "flipped the script" in the first Test at Edgbaston by being the more aggressive side, when traditionally it is Australia who play that role.

"England are certainly a very different side to the one we saw in Australia a year and a half ago and they’re playing very watchable cricket. But by the same token this Australian side is very good and will not be goaded into playing the sort of cricket they’re not used to playing.

"If I’m going to be critical of England’s new and vibrant approach it’s their second innings batting. I thought the declaration late on day one was excellent given they’d made almost 400 and the second new ball was due. I thought that was bold, aggressive captaincy, which I applaud.

"But Joe Root’s dismissal in the second innings, stumped on 46 when he looked set for a second hundred in the game, was a pivotal moment.

"There are times when playing that freewheeling type of cricket that you have to take the game situation into consideration. On day four, when England were in front in the game, Root’s dismissal was a strange one because he didn’t look like getting out."

Image source, Getty Images

Time for a quick look at what some of the Australia media is saying about the Ashes.

Peter FitzSimons of the Sydney Morning Herald is excited by what he has seen so far, using his column, external to call the series "the most enthralling Ashes in memory".

He wrote:

"Before our very eyes the curtain is going up on the Second Act of the greatest sustained sporting theatre of our age, the Ashes series.

"As you will recall in the enthralling First Act, which received rave reviews, our own swashbuckling heroes born under the Southern Cross were put upon by the villains with such vigour it really looked like our blokes were going to go down.

"But wait! Against all odds, just in the closing minutes, the heroes came good and sent the villains scurrying to lick their wounds, as the crowd – well, at least half of us – roared in appreciation. The other half were devastated, but determined to come back in this Act.

"Encore! Encore! ENCORE!"

Probably in the ‘Wild’ category of guesses - a, 22% (especially with Sibley blocking away) b, 14%. Attacking fields with runs on offer balanced by the miserly Anderson…

Jack from Cheltenham

For those of you who might actually have to work, you can keep up to date through the day with notifications on the BBC Sport app.

When you get a moment to check, you'll see the latest wicket to fall right on your lock screen.

Find us in your phone's app store, or if you have the app installed head to the notifications section on the menu.

Image source, Getty Images

England Women have named their IT20 Women’s Ashes squad for their forthcoming fixtures against Australia.

Issy Wong, the first player to take a hat-trick in the WPL earlier this year, has been recalled to the squad. England will hope she'll be able to bring similar fireworks to the three upcoming T20s.

Western Storm all-rounder Danielle Gibson, who was also named in England’s Ashes Test squad, also receives her first full IT20 call-up.

Australia beat England by 89 runs to win the one-off Ashes Test match and take a 4-0 points lead in the multi-format series.

The three T20s and three one-day internationals are all worth two points each.

You'll be able to watch the first T20 live on BBC2 on Saturday.

England Women Vitality IT20 Women’s Ashes squad

Heather Knight (captain, Western Storm), Lauren Bell (Southern Vipers), Maia Bouchier (Southern Vipers), Alice Capsey (South East Stars), Kate Cross (Thunder), Freya Davies (South East Stars), Charlie Dean (Southern Vipers), Sophia Dunkley (South East Stars), Sophie Ecclestone (Thunder), Danielle Gibson (Western Storm), Sarah Glenn (The Blaze), Amy Jones (Central Sparks), Nat Sciver-Brunt (vice-captain, The Blaze), Issy Wong (Central Sparks), Lauren Winfield-Hill (Northern Diamonds), Danielle Wyatt (Southern Brave)

Grey, overcast skies - a case of win the toss and bowl then? We will find out what the either Pat Cummins or Ben Stokes will do in around 90 minutes.

We will also bring you a weather forecast as we edge closer to start of play.

Matthew Henry
BBC Sport at Lord's

Good morning. Recovered from Edgbaston yet?

I'm not sure I have.

It is a grey, overcast start in north London. The bowlers will be sitting comfortably over their cornflakes.

It is now time for you get your thinking caps on as we bring you today's ZaltzQuiz.

Every day during these Ashes series, men's and women's, TMS stats man Andy Zaltzman will be posing a question for you all to answer.

We are looking for two answers for you today - both percentages. We will bring you the answer later this morning.

Here is the question:

A maidens-related question for you to ponder and take a guess at (wildly, educatedly, or otherwise) as you wait for the 'CrucialFirstHour' of the Lord’s Test.

Australia won the Edgbaston Test despite bowling only eight maidens, out of 144 completed overs. Only once has a winning team bowled fewer maidens in a six-balls-per-over Test – Australia bowled seven (out of 81) in their victory against Sri Lanka in Galle last year.

In terms of total maidens bowled as a percentage of the total overs bowled by a winning team, at 5.5%, England’s Edgbaston figure was by far the lowest in the history of six-balls-per-over Test cricket (comprising 2275 of the men's 2507 matches played).

Since the start of the Stokes-McCullum period, as a batting side, England have played out just 168 maidens out of 1696 overs (counting completed overs, plus overs left incomplete at the end of innings but from which runs had already been scored).

(a) Out of all the overs bowled at England over the two years prior to the beginning of the StokesoMcCullumistic revolution began last summer, how many were maidens (to the nearest percent)?

And

(b) can you also guess the percentage of overs bowled by England since June last year which have been maidens?

BBC Sounds

You can also hear more reaction to the ICEC report by listening to a special edition of the Sports Desk podcast.

Sarah Mulkerrins in joined by BBC sports editor Dan Roan, former Test umpire John Holder and former Middlesex women's captain Isabelle Westbury to discuss the devastating report into racism, sexism, classism and elitism in English cricket.

You can listen by heading over here or by going to BBC Sounds.

The ICEC chair Cindy Butts said stories told to the commission showed the sport's culture was "rotten".

"We heard of women being constantly stereotyped, demeaned, facing predatory behaviour," Butts told BBC sports editor Dan Roan.

"The stories were absolutely horrific and it goes to show that the culture in cricket is rotten."

You can read more on this issue here.

Here is the video of Ben Stokes' statement at a news conference yesterday.

You can also read what he has to say on the issue by heading over here.

The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) was announced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in March 2021 in the wake of global movements such as Black Lives Matter and Me Too.

It has made 44 recommendations, including that the ECB makes an unreserved public apology for its failings.

It opened an online call for evidence in November of that year, receiving 4,156 responses. In March 2022, a call for written evidence resulted in more than 150 responses.

Among those to give evidence include Ben Stokes, England women's captain Heather Knight, former men's captain Joe Root, World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan, and Azeem Rafiq - the former Yorkshire player and racism whistleblower.

You can read more on this story, including a link to the full report, by reading this article from our chief cricket writer Stephan Shemilt.

Metro

The Metro also leads on the story, with Stokes apologising and saying cricket "should be enjoyed without fear of discrimination."

Image source, Metro