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Match abandoned

In an early contender for Least Surprising Event of the 2026 Cricket Summer, the match has been abandoned without a ball bowled.

It means England will take a 1-0 lead into the third and final ODI at Cardiff on Saturday. The forecast is… okay.

There will be no inspection at 4.40pm. The heavens hath opened.

There will be an inspection at 4.40pm! If – and it’s a Brobdingnagian if – there is no more rain before then.

Thanks Taha, hello everyone. Hello anyone? I don’t blame you if you’ve taken your eyes elsewhere as this looks like a lost cause.

Before the match is officially abandoned, we should mention some uplifting news: the great Sarah Taylor has been appointed as the England men’s fielding coach for their upcoming Test series against New Zealand. Cricinfo reckon it’s the first time a female coach has worked with a men’s international team.

“I just think she’s one of the best in the business at what she does,” said Rob Key, England men’s director of cricket. “She’s been outstanding, and she’s worked a lot with Andrew Flintoff and Ed Barney [performance director]. They can’t speak highly enough of her. So from what we can see, she’s one of the best in the business.”

Taylor is enjoying one of the better weeks of her life: she’s also a huge Arsenal fan.

My rainwatch stint has come to a close. Here’s Rob Smyth, who will hopefully get some play.

Elsewhere, Liam Dawson has retired from first-class cricket. His red-ball record at Hampshire is outstanding: 10,424 runs at 34 and 361 wickets at 32.

He returned to Test cricket last year after an eight-year absence but didn’t get another go after that draw at Old Trafford.

We’re – it’s probably safe to say – not starting at 4pm.

It's raining again

Oh well. The covers are coming back on. Arghhhhhh.

The teams

New Zealand are unchanged with England making two tweaks: Alice Capsey and Sophie Ecclestone replace Jodi Grewcock and Lauren Filer.

England: Emma Lamb, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight, Alice Capsey, Freya Kemp, Amy Jones (wk), Dani Gibson, Charlie Dean (c), Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Bell, Tily Corteen-Coleman

New Zealand: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Melie Kerr (c), Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Izzy Gaze (wk), Izzy Sharp, Jess Kerr, Nensi Patel, Rosemary Mair, Bree Illing

New Zealand win the toss and choose to bowl first

Melie Kerr calls it right and the visitors will chase. The game has been reduced to 32 overs a side.

News! We’re tossing at 3.30pm for a 4pm start.

Inspection at 3pm BST.

The sun is out, says Ian Ward. We pray.

We go again. Inspection at 2.40pm BST.

Forgive the self-promotion but here’s my interview with Sonny Baker last year. He’s one of the new names in the Test squad.

Sky are playing the highlights of the 2017 World Cup final, with Heather Knight and Lauren Winfield-Hill providing the DVD commentary. What a game.

We’re going to have another inspection at 2.05pm BST.

In case you missed it: here’s Raf’s preview for the summer, with the T20 World Cup quickly followed by a historic Test at Lord’s.

Good news: we’re going to have an inspection at 1.15pm BST. The worry? The forecast means we’re probably down for further interruptions.

The first men’s Test of the summer starts on 4 June, but we’ve already got the squad. Zak Crawley has lost his place and I’m assuming it’ll be Emilio Gay to open alongside Ben Duckett. Rehan Ahmed at No 8 would be good fun; just a shame that he’s not played for a month because he’s at the IPL.

While we wait, why not tuck into this week’s Spin? Tanya reports on Oswestry CC and their growing women’s section.

Right, we’ve got a delayed toss in Northampton as the rain comes down.

Preamble

Hello, hello, hello and welcome to coverage of the second ODI between England and New Zealand. The first one was nervy, a one-wicket win sealed by stand-in captain Charlie Dean, unbeaten on 31 in a chase of 211. At the other end: Tilly Corteen-Coleman, the 18-year-old debutant who contributed three precious runs and impressed with her main job. She finished with two for 49 off 10 overs, a fine introduction to the international game.

What have Melie Kerr’s New Zealand got in response? Well, first, we’ve got to pray for some sunshine. The weather forecast is, I’m afraid, rather dodgy. For now, we’re down for a 1pm BST start.