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4m ago 11.16 BST Keep the emails coming in, it’s always good fun to chew the fat during a rain delay. It’s still mizzling in Leeds but there are brighter clouds rolling in from the east. I’m just off for a wander to see what the prospects of play might be (find some coffee). Back soon!

Updated at 11.17 BST

12m ago 11.09 BST Alisdair Gould is off his long run in Paris… Hello James, I enjoyed the preamble that sets the context of today’s cricket perfectly. After such flattery I trust you will print my opinion! (You know me so well…) “Bairstow is neither Test class as a batter and certainly not a wicketkeeper to pick ahead of Foakes… he should be dropped. If your best bowler is available you don’t choose a replacement because she or he scores more runs. I find it an insulting group compromise the continued selection of matey Bairstow.” Well now, Al. I can feel your frustration seeping through my screen but Bairstow is a Test class batter, you need only look at his record in the last 12 months to see that. But, I accept he’s had a shocking series behind the stumps thus far and he’ll be feeling it keenly. After the Lord’s Test finished I interviewed Jack Russell and he was particularly thoughtful on this very issue. You know, this series might be decided by one stumping. One catch. One piece of brilliance, because there’s such fine margins between the sides. Jonny is made of tough stuff and I’m sure he’ll bounce back but in an Ashes series missed chances get magnified and so the pain will be even greater because of what is at stake.” Jack Russell: ‘Cricket and art, you can never crack either – you’re always learning’ Read more

22m ago 10.59 BST I can see plenty of sopping work going on from my vantage point in the press box. It currently IS NOT raining but it is really muggy (mafting if you will) and there is the odd grumble of thunder to be heard away over Leeds city centre. “Hi Jim!” Hello to you Matt Dunhill. “I’m actually looking forward to an on/off day of cricket, all this high octane cricket is great but I do miss OBO chats about travel, food etymology etc! Anyway... Not purely a Yorkshire term but a very apt phrase for today: ‘It’s black over Bill’s mother’s’ (meaning there are black clouds on the horizon)“ I think that could be a Lancashire expression, I’m sure the OBO hive-mind will let us know. Brass Tacks was once a TV programme and half the inspiration for Brass Eye @Jimbo_Cricket - https://t.co/xs5Jtgq6hR — Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 8, 2023

Updated at 11.11 BST

35m ago 10.45 BST “Morning Jimbo. Hope I can call you that?” You can call me anything you want, Simon McMahon “It’s been a tough couple of days for Scottish sports fans, after the men’s cricket team missed out on World Cup qualification at the death against Netherlands, and Andy Murray exiting Wimbledon, possibly for the last time. At least we can all rely on England to provide some much needed respite by taking this Ashes series to Old Trafford still alive. That’s the least we all deserve, right. Right? Make it happen please, England.” Rely doing a lot of heavy-lifting here I think Simon.

40m ago 10.40 BST A horrible grey cloud has just emptied itself onto Headingley and I think I saw a flash of lightning in the distance. I don’t think we are going to start on time here, will bring you any official information as I get it.

50m ago 10.30 BST Tom Coates gets the prize of err absolutely nothing for being the first emailer to brighten my inbox. “Hello Jim, Before reading your opening post this morning, I’d never encountered the local phrase ‘it’s time to get down to brass tacks’, nor can I work out what on earth it is supposed to mean after a few minute’s consideration. While at Headingley on Thursday I, a Swindonian, was equally confused when the man sitting next to me proclaimed that Australia (just Mitch Marsh, really) were ‘cracking eggs with a stick’. According to him this just means ‘getting on with it’. I took his word for it. Are there any other perplexing phrases from Yorkshire (or other) local dialects that could describe the state of play today, or indeed England’s performance in the series so far?” I like this Tom, this feels like good rain delay content. PS - I’m definitely going to steal ‘cracking eggs with a stick’ for OBO purposes.

1h ago 10.24 BST It’s grey and foreboding at Headingley. We’ve had a few thundery downpours and the covers have been on all morning. Promisingly, the groundstaff are peeling them off as we speak. The forecast looks a bit worse for this afternoon, it might be an on-off sort of a day. Worst kind of weather for hair wash day and yeah yeah also for Test cricket #Ashes pic.twitter.com/cUGY8rSv0S — Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) July 8, 2023

Updated at 10.26 BST

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