1.10pm Brydon says they are now covering the whole square. Must be expecting more rain. Don't know what that does to the 1.15pm inspection
"I'm glad we lost 10 minutes of play so that we could sit here and watch the covers come back on after lunch. Just play when you can - it's quite simple.." Well said, Dean. Don't walk off until it gets heavy enough to leave. New ball, old ball, close to new ball, close to lunch... doesn't matter.
Although I must reiterate - as I said earlier - this is not definitely a consequence of Smith's chat with Gould. We don't know what was said and heard there, but ultimately we have lost 10 minutes. Ten minutes that Pakistan wouldn't have minded playing
Jeff: "I rather imagine the umpires consulted Smith on the catering and if they would be risking underdone pork, seafood or poultry by taking an early lunch."
1pm The session timings, meanwhile, have gone bonkers, and I have no idea when it will be tea and when it will be stumps. I suppose with 15 minutes lost so far, we can go 45 minutes into overtime, which should mean we can play till 6.15pm, provided there are no more rain breaks. Speaking of which, the covers are still on and we are not resuming this second session on time. There will be an inspection at 1.15pm
Given how it is not raining - not enough to not inspect the conditions at any rate - it makes the early lunch look sillier. They could have easily played on for 10 minutes when they did go off
Brydon Coverdale confirms he can see a very light drizzle at the MCG
12.55pm Welcome back. A lot of reaction to the early lunch shenanigans.
Akib: "I suppose Pakistan would be well within their rights to stay in the pavilion until it's bright and sunny and all the clouds go away... in case it "might rain". .. same way umpire decided they should take an eary lunch.. because it "might rain"... utterly preposterous and shambolic... are england, india and Australia just making the rules up as they go along now??"
Steve: "As an australian supporter, I'm not at all impressed with odd decisions coming from the umpires in this series (this early lunch, playing extra time under lights in 1st test). They at least give the appearamce of unfairly favouring the home side. It's not cricket as I'd wish it to be."
Aoun: "I find this early lunch really unfair and disappointing. Clearly Smith didnt want new ball to get wet so he spoke to umpires about early lunch. Weather conditions are part of test match and you just have to deal with it. He should have kept bowling with old ball till its official lunch time. If I was captain of Pakistan team, I would have a chat with umpire and tell them that if you are OK to take early lunch then I would take tea now as I dont want my batsmen to bat in overcast conditions? Why favor one team. Not fair..."
12.20pm Smith and Ian Gould have a chat during the over break. Then Gould has a chat with S Ravi. And we are taking early lunch. That's a little weird. They are coming off early predicting rain? Either way, it works for Australia who were in a spot. Should they take the new ball and risk its getting wet in this outfield? Should they wait for lunch and let Pakistan milk more runs over the next 10 minutes? Then a little chat - and I am not suggesting this early lunch is definitely a direct consequence of Smith's word with Gould - and we walk off, saving Australia the dilemma. Mickey Arthur, the former Australia and current Pakistan coach, is not happy with all this. We have a mild drizzle on, but this is not strong enough to take players off. Suppose Australia have got away with this conundrum. They should have been asked to play through these 10 minutes, and should have been asked to make a decision if they want to take the new ball or not
Part of reason why Australia have been desperate is because there has been no wicket in this session. Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq have batted beautifully to add over a 100 for this partnership. Azhar has scored a hundred, and is on his way to notching 1100 for 2016. Shafiq has played another old-fashioned Test knock, starting off slowly and then cashing in on tired bowlers. We will be back at 1pm
