Eleven oclock on a bright, slightly sticky Saturday morning in Manchester. Mohammad Amir runs in from the Statham End and bowls to Joe Rt, who is 141 not out. The ball is on a gd length but wide of the off stump. Rt plays no shot and it passes to Sarfraz Ahmed behind the stumps.And so another day in the grass arena has begun. One ball has been bowled and there are scheduled to be roughly 539 more; or a minimum of 1617 pieces of action if we include the participation of bowler, batsmen and fielder. Some will be faithfully recorded and never mentioned again; others, the dismissal of Ben Stokes, for example, will be reviewed and scrutinised for, perhaps, five minutes.I wouldnt care if it was another sport but cricket takes up so much of the day. With these words the partner of even a club player explains why things arent working. Yet for many of its supporters the length of a first-class cricket match is the essence of its attraction. They like the slow accretion of events and the way time imposes its demands. They enjoy their T20 matches - this isnt an either/or dilemma - but they appreciate a format in which a cricketers endurance and mental strength are examined and in which batting for ten hours receives its due reward. It is, for them, truly a ball-by-ball game in which progress can be close to invisible.And so they enjoyed Rts 618-minute innings and his Jesuitical quest for absolution after his transgressions at Lords. Successful Test batsmen are defined by their ability to go on. For them, a century is a junction not a terminus. So it is with Rt and it was curious how his watchfulness in facing the Pakistan bowlers in that first session was matched by that of most spectators as they, in their turn, watched the way he began again.For most people on earth, the idea of being watched as they work is inimical; for sportsmen it is essential. And the symbiosis between the crowd and cricketers repays its own close attention. We watch the watchers watching the watched. The applause that greeted Chris Woakess first fours - a cut, a cover-drive, a square-drive - were almost celebratory, as if the gd times had begun to roll and another drink was, indeed, the order of the day.Rt, though, continued to wear a hair-shirt and we were 16 overs into the morning before he found the boundary courtesy of an edge and Younis Khans dropped catch at slip. He scored 44 runs in that first, exploratory session and only after tea did he bat as if truly liberated. By then, of course, there were beer snakes and fancy dress; some spectators may have watched the cricket a little less closely than they had in the morning. Stokes and Jonny Bairstow played trampling innings on tired fielders, hoping that weight of runs would earn early wickets. There was less intensity but more fiesta; summer in full, gd-humoured riot.Then the declaration and a re-cranking of tension. A new guttural as James Anderson ran in from the Pavilion End. Earlier in the day Andersons team-mates, suddenly spectators themselves, had watched from one of the pavilion balconies. But it was not the local hero who made the breakthroughs. That honour fell in large measure to Woakes, whose three wickets were greeted with fresh roars as spectators scraped their plate in the last hour of the day.6.25 on Saturday and the air is a little fresher, the clouds higher. Stokes runs in from the Statham End and bowls to Shan Masd. The ball is on the off stump and the batsman plays it defensively and safely. There is a slightly subdued gasp from the crowd as if the air had been released from a huge balln. Then ringing applause for the England players as they return to their dressing-rm.For Woakes this has been another fine day; his shares on crickets stock-market have risen. He has masqueraded as a nightwatchman and reinforced his position as a potent strike bowler at a time when England are not short of them. As the crowd disperses, many are talking about how his bowling has helped make their day memorable.Within fifteen minutes Old Trafford is almost deserted and a few minutes later Pakistans players, rucksacks on their backs, are returning to their coach, trping over the outfield like blue-uniformed trekkers.And so it ends, this gentle, fierce ticking down of 540 pieces of action, the shape of it all collaborative, confrontational, intense. If you rush, youll never get anywhere, said the man on the gate this morning. Wholesale Stan Smith . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. Cheap Stan Smith Online . LUCIE, Fla. http://www.wholesalestansmith.com/ . The nimble-fted quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record bk. Discount Stan Smith . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indr hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. Stan Smith Wholesale China . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. PORTLAND, Ore. -- Officials say the shting of a former Detroit Lions cornerback at a multimillion-dollar home in Portland, Oregon, was justified.The Oregonian/OregonLive reports (.gl/wXGEi0" target="_blank">http://g.gl/wXGEi0) the Multnomah County District Attorneys Office said Wednesday a grand jury found homeowner Robert McCalls use of force was justified.Oregon law allows a person to use deadly physical force against someone trying to burglarize their home.Authorities say Stanley Wilson II was fouund naked and wounded in a water fountain in a backyard June 22.dddddddddddd The homeowner had shot him in the abdomen.Wilson has been arraigned on burglary and trespassing charges and says hes happy to be alive. He posted bail and his next court appearance was set for July 15.---Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com ' ' '