Close England 377 for 6 (Butcher 123, Trescothick 81, Stewart 57*)
scorecard

The weather forecasters might have been wide of the mark on Thursday when they predicted rain for much of the day, but at the second time of asking, their gloomy prognosis was spot on.

The covers remained stubbornly in place for the entire morning session of the second day at Old Trafford, and when bad light halted proceedings at 5.35pm, barely two hours' play had been possible. The smattering of spectators, already identifiable as a hardcore bunch, sat doggedly under their umbrellas, unmoved even by the news of Portugal's exit from the World Cup. Such dedication. Whether they bother to stay put at 12.30pm tomorrow, however, is a moot point.

Nevertheless, England's cricketers did their utmost to lift the gloom. Mark Butcher, who has transformed himself from a dasher to a sticker with remarkable success, scored 123, his fifth Test century and his second in three innings, and Alec Stewart waved a defiant bat at the vultures circling around his career, posting a timely unbeaten half-century to leapfrog Mark Taylor in the all-time list of Test run-scorers.

Resuming on their overnight 273 for 4, Butcher and Stewart made sedate progress in a trouble-free mini-session after lunch. The pair added 66 in an hour's play, with Butcher reaching three figures by tickling Chaminda Vaas to the fine-leg boundary. Neither man has much of a liking for spin, but by adapting their techniques to counter Muralitharan, they were soon able to return to their favourite diet - half-cocked seam-bowling.

Sri Lanka's pacemen again let themselves down. Dilhara Fernando's cunningly-disguised slower ball came close to yorking Butcher, but the new ball had been spanked for 44 runs in six overs by the time Vaas made the breakthrough. Butcher though was decidedly unfortunate - struck high on the back foot by a ball speared in from outside off stump (354 for 5). Vaas, though, was jubilant. His third wicket of the series had brought his series average below 150. He now needs just one more for 200 in Tests.

Sri Lanka made it a double breakthrough when Andrew Flintoff was unluckily run out for 1, as Vaas got a fingertip to a straight drive from Stewart, and tickled the ball into the stumps at the non-striker's end (361 for 6), but Alex Tudor batted sensibly to ensure that England finished an unsatisfactory day in a very satisfactory position.

Andrew Miller is editorial assistant of Wisden.com.

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