We can't have nice things...

The covers are coming back on to the square at the Oval as the rain returns.

The dream of a restart in 13 minutes has gone...

It'll be worth the wait when play does resume, though, you can be sure of that...

It's like one mind...

The players will take tea at 15:30 BST with a view to play restarting at 15:50 BST... provided no further rain falls during the break, and that's by no means a given.

The main positive is that the umpires and ground staff have done everything possible to ensure play for us today, for which I am grateful...

The bed in question is the huge ground sheets being wrestled around in gusting winds by the ground staff at the Oval.

They have earned their keep today already, and I think there'll be plenty more work to do in the next three-and-a-half hours or so

Now, the covers are coming off at the Oval, the skies have lightened considerably and the rain has stopped.

I'm not getting too excited, however, because my weather app won't let me... there's still a big old blob of wet stuff to the west of the capital and it's heading east...

For those asking, there is indeed some cricket ongoing in the country right now.

England's women are facing Australia in their T20 World Cup warm-up match at a mercifully dry Sophia Gardens.

You can follow the score here.

And you can listen to the TMS World Cup preview by clicking above... the perfect way to spend a rain delay.

It's just gone 15:00 BST.

In theory there are 58.2 overs remaining in the day.

Tea was due to be taken at 16:00 BST but looking at the weather radar it doesn't look great for the next 45 minutes or so, so it would make sense to me to take an early tea and hope to resume play as soon as possible after 4pm for a monster evening session, hopefully played without any further interruption.

If only I had any power...

You're going to like this.

In 1894, the American football team from Gallaudet College, a school for the deaf in Washington DC, was playing against another deaf team.

Paul Hubbard, the quarterback, didn’t want to risk the other team seeing him use Sign Language to explain the play to his teammates, so he asked them to form a tight circle formation, now known as a huddle. Click here for more., external

132 years later and it's ubiquitous in pretty much every sport.

Making the most of rain delays by giving you some great pub trivia.

Rain stops playpublished at 14:45 BST

14:45 BST

Surrey 421 v Hampshire 78-2

Image source, Shutterstock

Well, it's been a fun 59 minutes... for the school children and for Matt Fisher in particular.

He's picked up the wickets of Toby Albert and Ali Orr in the 13.2 overs we have been able to enjoy on day two, though Nick Gubbins and Jake Lehmann have batted very positively for their 29* and 14*.

Hampshire still trail by 343 with eight wickets in hand and, in theory, 58.2 overs left in the day.

There won't be that many, though this looks like a sharp shower rather than anything too prolonged.

Matt Fisher goes around the wicket to Jake Lehmann, who follows the second ball down the leg side.

Ollie Pope dives low to his right to grab the ball, but it hadn't quite carried.

Lehmann opens the face nicely from the next ball to work it to the vacant third boundary for his third boundary.

Hate to tell you, but the rain has returned... they're talking in the middle.

Jordan Clark has gone with the top-knot to corral his flowing locks for his second over.

Nick Gubbins guides his third ball past extra cover to the rope off the back foot to move to 29*.

Gubbins defends the fourth ball but gets a painful blow from the fifth, wheeling away and dropping his bat after being struck just above the thigh guard.

After a moment to compose himself and after rejecting the physio's offer of treatment he produces a textbook forward defensive shot to end the over.

Jake Lehmann guides an inswinger from Matt Fisher past mid-on for a couple of runs and then cuts the next to the boundary at backward point for his second boundary to move into double figures.

Three dot balls complete the over. the Hampshire deficit is 351 and we have 60 overs remaining in the day.

It's not Curran, Jordan Clark comes into the attack and Nick Gubbins tries to hook his first ball into the leg side from well outside off but getting a huge top edge which, thankfully for him, drops safely.

Four byes follow from Clark's second delivery, again due to some real late swing after the ball comes off the deck, with Ollie Pope unable to cling on diving to his right.

Gubbins plays and misses at the next and then sees his outside edge beaten by Clark from the fuller next ball before Gubbins defends the final delivery into the leg side.

Matt Fisher is asking some questions here, getting the ball to come back at these left-handers, but not quite enough.

Nick Gubbins moves to 23* with a single and will be on strike as Tom Curran returns from the other end.

Nick Gubbins picks up a single off Tom Curran to bring Jake Lehmann onto strike.

The Australian lefty gets off the mark with a glorious cover drive, perfectly-timed, which sends dozens of children scampering down the stands in the hope the ball will pop over the hoarding.

Sadly for them it does not.

Another four byes as Tom Curran slings one down the leg side and though Ollie Pope gets a glove to it, he can't prevent the ball racing to the fence.

A single gets Ali Orr off the mark at the 10th attempt and brings up the Hampshire 50 before Nick Gubbins is struck outside the line, to muted appeals, to end the over.

Matt Fisher has his head in his hands and Ollie Pope has a rueful grin.

Fisher has got this ball to Ali Orr to come back an absolute mile, it beats off stump and then swings wildly back towards the leg side and Pope is unable to gather despite diving full length to his right as it races away to fine leg for four byes.

Image source, Shutterstock

Matt Fisher is getting the Hollywood treatment as he retreats to field at long leg, with school children in fluorescent tabards flooding down the stands in search of an autograph.

RSI from signing his name is a real concern here. One to watch.

Tom Curran sends down a no-ball from his third delivery to buy him some more time before Nick Gubbins produces a glorious drive down the ground for four to long-off.

Curran replied by beating the outside edge and Gubbins clips the final delivery through mid-wicket for another four, beating Sam Curran's slide to the rope, to take Gubbins onto 20*.