An important point from Mike Atherton on Sky. Pakistan were hammered by Bangladesh in Rawalpindi in August after declaring their first innings on 448 for 6, so we shouldn’t be surprised if they are slightly wary after lunch. If they get to, say, 450 for 7 we’ll probably start to see our old friends bish and bosh.

“Morning Rob,” says Guy Hornsby. “I have to admit I completely forgot there was a Test match on today. I was happily off for a swim and listening to a cricket podcast and got back to realise it was lunch. Starting a Test on a Monday seems to have completely thrown me. But looks like a lot of action, unfolding slowly, as Test cricket beautifully does. I’m off to see Crowded House in Manchester tonight, so while Pakistan are still on top, it’s only day 2. England: Don’t Dream It’s Over.”

Or, if you’re an England seamer, Nails In My Feet.

Anyway, here’s Paul Young. Shame Crowded House didn’t reciprocate by covering Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home).

Come in No 717

Lunch

111th over: Pakistan 393-6 (Saud 63, Salman 0) Another maiden, this time from Leach to Salman.

110th over: Pakistan 393-6 (Saud 63, Salman 0) Another wicket would make this England’s session, which is faintly absurd given the nightwatchman Naseem Shah batted for most of it. Not this time: Atkinson bowls a maiden to Saud.

109th over: Pakistan 393-6 (Saud 63, Salman 0) Salman Ali Agha, who has two Test hundreds and 16 in first-class cricket, is the new batter.

WICKET! Pakistan 393-6 (Rizwan c Woakes b Leach 0)

108th over: Pakistan 392-5 (Saud 62, Rizwan 0) Atkinson replaces Carse, whose spell this morning was a worthy 5-1-12-1. He starts a bit loosely, firing a couple down the leg side to Rizwan, who defends the rest of the over. He wants to be still be around for the post-lunch buffet.

I wonder how Saim Ayub feels after getting out for 4 on this pitch. Grahame Clinton knows his pain.

107th over: Pakistan 392-5 (Saud 62, Rizwan 0) Saud played some good sweeps off Leach yesterday evening, both reverse and orthodox, and he gets another away behind square for four. He has looked so comfortable this morning.

“Greetings from windy and rainy Lübeck,” writes Sairam. “I just googled to discover that Wasim Akram holds the record for the highest percentage of Test runs scored in sixes among cricketers who have scored at least 100 runs. He scored 17.9 pre cent of his Test runs through sixes, totaling 98 across his career. That includes a famous innings of 257 not out against Zimbabwe where he hit 12 sixes.”

At Sheikhupura in 1996 if memory serves. That list is a good find, and it’s no surprise to see Wasim high on the list. I can’t see Naseem reaching 1000 Test runs, though he might keep up this percentage. What makes it even more unusual is that he has the strike rate of a blocker, 31 runs per 100 balls.

106th over: Pakistan 388-5 (Saud 58, Rizwan 0) Mohammad Rizwan, positivity personified, is the new batter so there shouldd be a change of tempo. Carse continues around the wicket and inconveniences Rizwan with a good first delivery that hits him somewhere near the glove.

WICKET! Pakistan 388-5 (Naseem c Brook b Carse 33)

105th over: Pakistan 388-4 (Saud 58, Naseem 33) There’s a bit of turn for Leach, though it’s painfully slow. Naseem pings his third six, this time a hold-the-pose drive played inside out over mid-off. What a fantastic shot! Those runs make this Naseem’s highest first-class score.

Oh and he has now hit 30 per cent of his Test runs in sixes. Even Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have only managed 12 and 10 per cent respectively.

104th over: Pakistan 381-4 (Saud 58, Naseem 26) Carse continues to huff and puff in pursuit of his first Test wicket. He thought he’d taken it 24 hours ago when Shan Masood was given out LBW, only for that decision to be overturned on review.

Naseem, who rode his luck in the first hour, looks pretty comfortable now. Carse switches around the wicket but Naseem has plenty of time to duck under an 87mph bumper. It’s a no-ball, the second of the over, so Carse has to do it all over again. It’s probably fair to say that, when he first starting to think about playing Test cricket, a pitch like this wasn’t in the brochure. In the circumstances he has bowled pretty well and has figures of 18-2-64-0.

103rd over: Pakistan 377-4 (Saud 57, Naseem 25) Leach replaces Bashir, and Naseem hares down the pitch to smash his fourth ball over mid-on for six. That’s a beautiful shot, one that continues the block/thwack theme of Naseem’s innings and indeed career: 36 of his 130 Test runs have come in sixes.

To put that in some context, 36 of Don Bradman’s 6996 Test runs came in sixes.

102nd over: Pakistan 371-4 (Saud 57, Naseem 19) Saud opens the face to steer Carse for a couple. He has scored at a reasonable pace this morning, making 22 from 38 balls. The main problem is that he has been starved of the strike, with Naseem often getting stuck for the majority of an over. He might as well have a swing now and push things forward.

101st over: Pakistan 368-4 (Saud 55, Naseem 18) Leach outbowled Bashir yesterday so it’s a surprise we haven’t seen him this morning. I guess the logic is that the specialist batsman is a left-hander, therefore you want the offspinner. But they need to dismiss Naseem as well.

On commentary Rameez is criticising Pakistan for their negative approach this morning. I wonder what his internal monologue was like during his Test debut in 1984, when he made 2 runs from 67 balls.

100th over: Pakistan 366-4 (Saud 54, Naseem 17) The physio is on the field again when Naseem is pinned on the glove by a lifter from Carse. “At what cost is this batting for?” says Rameez Raja on commentary.

He was hit on his bowling hand, though he’s okay to continue. Maybe he’ll start having a swing now; no point taking more punishment, and it feels like he’s done his job by surviving the first hour.

99th over: Pakistan 363-4 (Saud 53, Naseem 15) Big first hour? No, just a quiet one: 13 overs, 35 runs, no wickets. That’s why you should have had the extra hour in badm, you eejit drinks.

“Naseem’s presence as the nightwatchman is on one hand seeing the new ball off and on the other is disrupting the flow of Saud Shakeel,” says Zain Malik. “This morning session should be more about intent from Pakistan. Going hard, going all in and putting up a mammoth score. Multan is where the Bazball era became pop-culture. 600 here would truly put a draw on the cards and put the impetus on England to demonstrate whether or not they’ll stick to their entertainment industry approach. There’s no glamour in Multan so far. Just toil and labour.”

I’d argue this gives them a greater chance of posting a mammoth score. The ideal scenario is to declare with around an hour to play tonight; if they do that they’ll have scored at least 600, probably nearer 700.

98th over: Pakistan 362-4 (Saud 52, Naseem 15) Brydon Carse comes on for Atkinson. There’s an unsuccesful appeal for a catch down the leg side when Naseem tries to push the ball off the hip. Jamie Smith celebrates but Pope decides against the review. I wonder whether, with a record of 0 from 11, he’s having DRS nightmares yet.

On this occasion Pope was right not to go upstairs. Replays showed that the ball brushed Naseem’s bahookie rather than his bat.

Pacewatch: Carse’s last ball is an 81mph bouncer. No idea what the moral of this story is.

97th over: Pakistan 360-4 (Saud 51, Naseem 14) Naseem Shah emerges from his bunker to waft Bashir over long on for six. That’s a really good shot, especially as he’s been strokeless for almost an hour.

Saud Shakeel then sweeps his first boundary of the day to reach a composed, confident fifty from 96 balls. Really well played. After taking 21 runs from the first ten overs of the day, Pakistan have scored 11 from the 11th.

96th over: Pakistan 349-4 (Saud 47, Naseem 7) Naseem is fine to continue and, when Atkinson pitches one up, he slices a big drive over the solitary slip for a single. It bounced well in front of the fly slip. Naseem has seven from 40 balls, and the 40 are probably worth more than the seven.

95.2 overs: Pakistan 348-4 (Saud 47, Naseem 6) Atkinson has moved second slip to fly slip for Naseem, who ducks into a bouncer and is clonked on the back of the helmet. He looks fine but that will mean a break in play and a concussion test.

95th over: Pakistan 348-4 (Saud 47, Naseem 6) Shoaib Bashir replaces Chris Woakes, who bowled a forensic spell of 6-2-9-1 last night and this morning. England’s arms go up when Saud bottom-edges a sweep onto the pad and away for a single.

Naseem steals a leg bye on the off side. Still just the one boundary this morning, and that was a thick edge from Naseem Shah. There have been 20 runs in nine overs and, crucially, no wickets.

94th over: Pakistan 346-4 (Saud 46, Naseem 6) It might be time to try the extra pace of Brydon Carse against Naseem. For now it’s Atkinson to continue, with two slips and a leg slip waiting for Godot an edge.

Naseem is beaten by consecutive deliveries, the second a full-length beauty. Atkinson’s impressive poker face is being put to the test; Naseem has been beaten at least seven times this morning. But he has done a terrific job for his team by hanging around.

93rd over: Pakistan 346-4 (Saud 46, Naseem 6) Saud Shakeel fiddles Woakes, bowling round the wicket now, along the ground and through the cordon for a couple. This is his 13th Test and he has an average of 59. That includes a poor series in Australia a year ago, which is to say record in Asia is spectacular: 1078 runs at 77. And not all those pitches were as flat as this one.

Woakes, who continues to bowl expertly with the second new ball, almost gets him with a well-directed bouncer that beats the attempted hook.

92nd over: Pakistan 344-4 (Saud 44, Naseem 6) Naseem softens his hands just enough to ensure an edge off Atkinson falls short of second slip. Atkinson tries a bouncer, the first of the day, but it’s too high and called wide.

England’s frustration grows when Naseem gets a thick edge between slip and gully for four. There’s an appeal for caught behind off the last ball of the over but no review. I think his bat brushed his boot; it certainly didn’t touch the little red thing.

91st over: Pakistan 339-4 (Saud 44, Naseem 2) Pakistan have started slowly, Naseem (2 from 21 balls) in particular. But, as Phil said in the previous over, that makes sense in the circumstances. Every dot ball puts metres in the legs of England’s seamers, who probably needed to bathe in WD40 this morning.

Naseem’s batting stats are quite interesting. No, really. In his short Test career he has a strike rate of 28 runs per 100 balls, yet 75 per cent of his runs have come in boundaries, including 23 per cent in sixes. That means a whole lot of dot balls.

90th over: Pakistan 337-4 (Saud 43, Naseem 1) Atkinson has a strangled LBW shout against Saud after nipping one back from round the wicket. Nicely bowled but too high.

“We’ve just had a magnificently intense storm here in ‘sunny’ Queensland,” says Phil Withall. “The positive of this is that I no longer have to cut the grass, I believe the aquatic lawnmower is yet to be invented. The negative is that I am now free to focus on the cricket. Pakistan have no need to hurry, which will make England’s opening hour so much more trying. One can but hope…”

Big next 10 minutes! I still think Pakistan will get a minimum of 500; Saud is largely in control and there’s plenty of batting to come. England could easily go past that; so much will depend on how they fare against the pace of Shaheen Shah Afridi and especially Naseem Shah. All results are on the table, just the way we like it.

89th over: Pakistan 334-4 (Saud 40, Naseem 1) While Atkinson went round the wicket to the left-hand Saud, Woakes is bowling over the wicket with two slips and two men on the drive – one at short extra, one at short mid-off.

When he takes a single off the first ball, the flirtation of the outside edge resumes. Naseem is beaten by a jaffa and nods respectfully down the pitch. Woakes has bowled really well with the second new ball: 4-2-5-1 are his figures.

88th over: Pakistan 333-4 (Saud 39, Naseem 1) Saud Shakeel times excellent cover drives off each of Gus Atkinson’s first two deliveries. The first is excellently stopped by Zak Crawley; the second beats him and goes for three. A couple of singles complete a low-key over.

“Rob,” says Neil Waterfield. “For the first time, I am one of those annoying people on the OBO asking for an overseas link to TMS. From Multan but not the stadium (which is an entirely different story!).”

Oh, bleary eyed text commentary not good enough for you people any more? (Here you go.)

87th over: Pakistan 328-4 (Saud 35, Naseem 0) The nightwatchman Naseem is beaten twice in Woakes’ first over, the second by a beauty. “Wasted on a tailender,” says Rameez Raja on commentary.

A maiden to start. England will want rid of Naseem as soon as possible so that the seamers are fresh when they bowl at Mohammad Rizwan. He’s such a perky strokeplayer, definitely not the kind you want to come up against when you can barely feel your legs.

Chris Woakes will open the bowling to Naseem Shah, with three slips and a gully in place. Big first 10 minutes coming up.

Before we start, a very happy birthday to the youngest Invincible.

At the Women’s T20 World Cup, the magnificent Nat Sciver-Brunt made light of an awkward runchase against South Africa to give England their second win in as many games.

The sight of one of the backroom staff doing the post-play interview usually means a very bad day at the office. Yesterday was more nuanced, and the spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel was full of praise for England during a most enjoyable interview.

Andy Bull on a day of hard yakka for England’s seam attack

These days England have a couple of electric fast bowlers of their own. The trouble is that one of them, Mark Wood, is just beginning a recovery from injury, and the other, Jofra Archer, is just finishing it. They have a wicked spinner too, but Adil Rashid, is so over Test cricket that while England were labouring away in Multan, he was (no joke) taking part in an Instagram livestream to promote the firm doing his hair replacement therapy. They had one of those ingenious seamers, too, but Jimmy Anderson was finishing playing in a golf pro-am before flying over to do some coaching because he has been railroaded into retirement.

Read Simon Burnton’s day one report

Shan Masood’s position as captain and in the team has become the subject of debate in recent months, and it had been more than four years and 26 innings since he last scored a Test ton, in which time his average was a ­miserable 20.69. But it swiftly ­transpired there were no demons in this pitch, and none in his head either.

Preamble