Right, here we go. Players heading back out. Hazlewood has one ball of this over remaining
2.38pm Play is due to resume at 2.50pm local time. Currently a 35-over per side game. Australia are going to need plenty of overs from Matt Kuhnemann, Mitch Owen, Cooper Connolly and Matt Short
From Sampath: Only one men’s ODI in Perth before today (80 at WACA and 3 at Optus) had been shortened due to weather – England vs New Zealand in February 1983 in B&H World Series, which was reduced to 23 overs due to heavy rain during first innings. There was a 48-over game as well between Australia and Sri Lanka in B&H World Series in December 1989, but it had a delayed start as ground staff forgot to mark the fielding circles which was followed by Channel Nine TV’s stump mic repairs.
2.33pm Pitch now being uncovered. Promising signs
2.27pm Cheers around the ground as the covers start to get removed (again). Umpires chatting to the groundstaff
2.20pm While we wait for news in Perth, here’s the scenarios for semi-final qualification in the Women’s World Cup
Jose Cyriac: “Adelaide and Sydney weather looks fine , full match guaranteed as per the current predictions. Here in Sydney, it is especially unusually hot at this time of the year. very little rain.” Let’s be careful of the Sydney/rain chat, shall we! But, yes, looks promising for the second two matches
2.10pm If/when this weather does clear and India’s innings is reduced further, Australia could be in an interesting position with their overs-per-bowler. They have front-loaded Starc and Hazlewood
Will: “Given Australia have used a lot of their pace overs already I wonder if the over reduction will hurt given they’ll have to bowl a lot of spin. It’s unusual for Aus not to have a seam all rounder.” Snap, Will
And for all those asking, we are trying to confirm a cut-off time for a 20-over contest
Sanjiv: “I am just couple of KMs away from the Optus stadium. The rain should clear in the next 10-15 minutes though can come back later in the evening.”
2.03pm Tristan now confirms it has started raining again
Ayan: “@Tristan is right – absolutely bleak and it’s raining quite heavily 10 km away from the stadium “
1.55pm Umpires coming out, but with umbrellas up
DM: “How’s the drainage at the Perth ground? Will it take long to start the game? Almost 2 in the morning on the East coast.” That shouldn’t be an issue when the rain stops
Here’s Tristan: “Basically not raining right now but there is more ahead on the radar. And it’s still bleak.”
Naren: “Just curious, why would you send Axar ahead of Rahul when you’re 3 wickets down inside 10 overs?” Potentially for the left/right hand combo
Sridhar: “Everyone except Josh Philippe can bowl in this Australian line-up!!!” Yep, although not sure how much more we’ll see of Marsh with the ball
1.50pm Jay: “@ryan, agreed, can’t see how they can select him at this point. If McSweeney got dropped after three tests, his performance wasn’t much worse than Konstas’ last summer. I think he needs a couple of years to go back to domestic first class to work on his defense for a couple years.”
Rohan: “Khawaja’s last series before he hangs up his boots?” – Good chance of that, yep
Akhil: “Afternoon Gnasher, how many overs should we have lost by now?” – Not sure on exact numbers, but this delay now more than an hour so will be a chunk. Maybe another 15-20.
1.45pm Ado: “is Mitchell Owen really best suited to 6/7?” – We may get some idea this series. He was due to play against South Africa before concussion.
devashish: “Renshaw deserves a long run in the test team. He was impressive when I first saw him in India back in 2017 test series.”
Alex: “Good to see Konstas winning your poll so far, enough with opening experiments of getting players to bat out of their position, give the youngster who opens in shield a fair run.”
Samir: “Best of luck australia to find someone at number 4 with avg of 60” Well, quite. A problem for the years to come. The selectors will hope not until 2027
1.40pm Ryan : “I don’t know how people can pick Konstas on his numbers, let him score runs at domestic level first. Weatherald has the runs, Labuschagne the class and Inglis deserves the opportunity. Konstas has time on his side.”
Asher: “The first poll question should have been “Should Khawaja open in the Ashes”!” Well, yes, that is another debate. He’s locked in to start, we’ll see how the series goes
Meanwhile, the outfield is being roped. Pitch still covered. Umpires chatting.
Josh: “Why have playing conditions changed so overs are lost immediately? Didn’t there used to be a rule of 30 minutes before overs lost in day games and 60 minutes for daynighters?” Varies from series to series but, yes, having so little wriggle room is unusual.
1.35pm Josh: “Can you please confirm that both teams need to play at least 20 overs for a game to be completed?” Yep, 20 overs per side for a game
This is positive, groundstaff are taking the covers off
Ayesha: “Can you confirm that we will have a game today, looking at the weather?” All I can say is, there’s more bands of showers on the radar
1.30pm Let’s run a poll
1.25pm Punya Goel : “@Andrew , who’s this tristan who’s giving info from the ground? Is it Stubbs or anyone else :).” I can confirm it isn’t the South Africa middle-order batter. It’s Tristan Lavalette who will be helping us through the summer.
Not a great update from Tristan: “Getting heavier and quite dark.”
1.18pm Hello again, folks. This isn’t ideal. All I’ll say is, it’s a lovely day in Sydney (hope this ages well next weekend!) As we wait, here’s a preview to a huge game coming up in a few hours.
Hemendra: “Cricinfo, please keep Gnasher away from commenting duties in important matches. Where he is, there is a way, for rain!” This feels a little harsh!
1.15pm Rain has still not relented, and the wait may be a while. I’m going to grab me some coffee while Gnasher returns to keep you entertained.
1.05pm “Bit more of a drizzle now so likely to be delayed for a bit longer,” Tristan says from the ground.
Rompingwins: “Pretty sure Baz would be on the golf course Neal.”
Mal: “Mystified by Nayab’s 19th/241 comment – any chance of an explanation? Even a quite private email?” Yes, I am sure you need an explanation!
Neal: “Excellent comments from @Asher regarding bounce and @Deep is on the money regarding likely 1st Ashes test pitch. Good intel for Baz, hopes he’s tuning in! “
12.58pm The umpires are going out with umbrellas. One set of covers coming off.
Varun: “I don’t think it bodes well for the games expansion to other countries , the past few days. Cricket is a fragile , equipment heavy sport. Sincerely An indian man hosting a watch party for non Asians in Chicago.”
Asher: “I don’t think the pitch is spicy (as in big lateral movement), it’s just fast and bouncy and an Asian side is struggling with that in the opening game of their tour. Tale as old as time”
Nayab: “Well the date is 19th, it would actually be fitting for the target to be 241.” – You’re going to anger a few members of the audience with that comment.
Hamdan: “Why Aussies never wear Green Jersey nowadays for home ODIs ?” – Oh yes, I used to love those kits!
riddhima : “cricket and rain has been a real match made in heaven in the past few days”
12.43pm Okay, looks like the rain has gotten a bit heavier. More covers coming on now.
Meanwhile, an Optus Stadium official has said that first rain break was the first time covers have been needed at the ground since it opened in 2018!
Deep: “Looking at this ODI pitch, I think Ashes pitches will be very spicy “
12.40pm Oh boy, here we go again. It’s drizzling again and we’re going off. The centre square is covered up again. Doesn’t look like a heavy shower.
