The acclaimed writer Manchán Magan has just published a book entitled ‘Ninety-Nine Words for Rain (and One for Sun)’ about the rich variety of terms in the Irish language for the all-too frequent bouts of precipitation we get here all year round.

If he’d only waited till today he could have brought up his century with Cruicéad Báistí, or ‘cricket rain’. That is the phenomenon which occurs when someone puts up a ‘sold-out’ sign outside a cricket ground, and 4,500 people gather to watch the sport.

Sure enough, rain was the winner in Malahide yesterday, leaving England 1-0 up in the three-match series and leaving Ireland just tomorrow’s game to draw level.

Overnight rain ensured a sodden outfield and although the skies were clear at the appointed start time, and the pitch well covered the umpires were concerned about patches of the outfield.

Showers of varying intensity fell from two o’clock, and although there was a dry spell that gave the large crowd hope of some action, a heavy cloudburst led to an abandonment at 3.45pm. It ends a run of 16 rain-free games staged in Ireland after mid-September dating back to 1861.