26 August 2020 12:10 am
The covers remain on as rain prevents play starting on time on the fifth day of the third Test cricket match between England and Pakistan
James Anderson was trapped in the England dressing room as bad weather delayed his bid to reach 600 Test wickets in the third and final Test against Pakistan at Southampton on Tuesday.
The last day should have started at 1000 GMT but, with rain still falling following an overnight downpour, the covers remained in place at the Ageas Bowl and there was no play before lunch.
England, 1-0 up in the three-match contest, are on the brink of their first Test series win over Pakistan for a decade.
If no more play is possible, 38-year-old paceman Anderson could be left on 599 Test wickets for some time. There is uncertainty as to whether England’s rescheduled tour of Sri Lanka or a Test series in India pencilled in for the New Year will take place, with the coronavirus pandemic still a major threat to the cricket calendar. Anderson was left just one wicket shy of becoming only the fourth bowler -- and first paceman -- to reach the landmark figure of 600 Test wickets as a combination of poor catching, bad weather and determined Pakistan batting thwarted him on Monday.
Anderson, denied an early breakthrough when Jos Buttler dropped a routine chance to reprieve Shan Masood, returned late in the day to have opener Abid Ali lbw for 42 after Masood had fallen lbw, playing no shot, to Stuart Broad. But that was as good as it got for Anderson, who ended a day cut short by bad light and rain with miserly figures of 1-18 from 12 overs. (AFP)