9.05pm: That's about it from us for tonight, I'll leave you with the considered analysis of our weather forecasters experts on Time Out. From myself, PDP and the scorers, thanks for keeping us company. We'll be back for more tomorrow with a crucial Group 1 fixture between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Bye!
8.55pm: Time for a word with the captains, who've done a lot of standing around and waiting today. Aaron Finch: "The outfield has taken a drenching over the last couple of weeks, as wet as I've ever seen it. The run-ups and around the circle were very, very wet. It's about player safety. We saw one of the Zimbabweans go down the other day. If you're trying to run out there it's going to be a real issue. Disappointing not to get on but just the amount of rain over the last couple of weeks has been amazing. [Wade Covid situation] He was going to play. Tucked away in the changing room by himself. Probably inevitable it was going to happen. He had a few symptoms but was good to go. [Run rate important now?] First and foremost you've got to win the game. Then you can earn the right to push for NRR. We've got to be ready for Afghanistan and Ireland and control what we can."
England's Jos Buttler: "Yeah, due to be a massive occasion. Very disappointed. Would have been a great place to do it [100 caps} but full focus on our next match and keeping our tournament alive. We've been playing some good cricket leading into the tournament. Really disappointing performance the other night. But we've retained full faith in the group and have confidence in the players for the rest of the tournament. [Extra tie for bowlers to recover?] The guys are rested up well and were ready to play, whichever XI we picked. A few extra days to clear everything out, have a couple of good training days in Brisbane and look forward to the next one."
8.48pm: Match abandoned, the weather has won another decisive victory in Melbourne. The outfield has been deemed unsafe by the umpires, and this World Cup Ashes clash is toast. Or rather a soggy slice of disappointment. Glenn Maxwell and Josh Hazlewood are among those players heading out to take selfies with the crowd, but that is going to be the extent of the action
8.42pm: "Covers are coming on," reports Alex. Got a feeling this could be terminal. Turn the amps up to 11, folks
"If Rain Gods have their say and won't let the match happen, what will be qualification scenarios for both teams after sharing 1 point each?" Well, Anshul, depending on other results I think it increases the likelihood of NRR being the decider. There's a scenario where Eng, NZ and Aus all end up on 7 points
8.35pm: Don't look now... it's raining again at the 'G. Aleem Dar has just stuck his umbrella up, which seems symbolic. Alex says the covers remain off, and it was just a small splodge on the radar. But you'd have to think the ground can't take much more of a soaking tonight
Bharath: "What's the logic behind having 2 games on the same ground as though Australia is short of grounds?" Not sure, although it doesn't seem to be logistics, as most teams are criss-crossing the country throughout the tournament
8.30 pm Next inspection coming up at 8.50 pm. The umpires clearly still have significant concerns about one or two sections of the outfield.
7.37 pm Umpires are chatting to the captains now. Another inspection is set for 8.15 pm local time.
7.08 pm Here's Alex Malcolm with an update: "It has stopped raining. The radar looks clear for a little while at least. The ground staff have pulled off the run-up covers at both. The main covers stay on. A lot of standing water has come off the covers. It is very wet on the outfield."
Alex (not Malcolm): "I can remember a few people suggesting England should be banned from hosting ICC events because of rain. Are those same people now saying Australia should also be shunned? Maybe one day ICC events will only ever be held in India, and they'll get their wish. Rain is a part of life, people - unfortunately it happens everywhere in the world!"
6.56 pm Big cheers go up at the MCG as one of the covers protecting the bowler's runup has been peeled back.
6.30 pm Inspection is set for 7.30 pm. Well that confirms we won't have anything close to an on-time start. Covers are still firmly on. Cutoff for a five-over game is 9.46 pm. Nasser Hussain has just said on TV that Melbourne has had more rain this week than the entire monthly average for October.
Jos Buttler is passing the time taking as many selfies with fans as possible in an effort to make sure the 50,000 or so people who have bought tickets for today don't go home completely disappointed.
6.00 pm Hello all to ESPNcricinfo's live coverage of the T20I version of the Ashes rivalry as England takes on Australia at the MCG in match 26 of the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Or will they? Because match one of today's doubleheader has been washed out by rain and the chances of play for the nightcap aren't looking all that promising either, but you never know. I'm Peter Della Penna and will be joined late on by Alan Gardner, who may or may not be doing a rain dance at the moment.
Amer: "It's 1 am in Calgary. Deciding going to bed or not is becoming difficult so can someone make it easy for me?" Well, you can read Andrew Miller's match preview with the nightlight on.
Through this tournament, we're picking the best moments from the games with our video experts in a daily show. And if you want to actually own a piece of those moments, they are available as digital memorabilia on FanCraze, ESPNcricinfo's digital collectible partners. On FanCraze, you can pre-buy iconic moments from each match of the World Cup called the Crictos of the Game. At this rate, the best Cricto from today might be one of the ground staff taking the covers off and removing water with a super sopper.
