Ollie Robinson thuds the ball into Saim Ayub's pad again and, for the second time, umpire Gaffaney raises his finger.

Reviewed quickly again but this one looks a better shout than the first.

Lovely shot.

After five dot balls from Jofra Archer, Azan Awais latches on to an overpitched delivery and crashes a drive through the covers for four.

Gentle start from Archer, nothing quicker than 84mph, but he does tend to do this before ramping up as he gets into his rhythm.

Kieran Parmley
CricViz analyst

Recent conditions in Edgbaston have been more favourable for batters, with the Birmingham venue producing the lowest amount of seam movement on average across the six Test venues used in England since 2023.

It's a big shift across from the second Test at Lord's, which unsurprisingly is the ground with the highest seam movement.

Phil Tufnell
Former England spinner on Test Match Special

That was keen from the umpire in the first over. It was going over.

Plenty of nip for Ollie Robinson but it's going over the top. England took one look at a replay and started wandering back to their fielding positions.

Not out. Good review from Pakistan.

Phil Tufnell
Former England spinner on Test Match Special

How many times does Ollie Robinson get a wicket in the first over?

Is it just clipping?

Has Ollie Robinson struck in the first over again?

He nips one back to Saim Ayub, who doesn't offer a shot, and the umpire raises his finger.

It didn't look right but it only needs to be clipping now.

Pakistan are up and running first ball.

Ollie Robinson bowls from round the wicket, gets a bit of nip back to left-hander Saim Ayub but that takes the ball down the leg side, flicking off the batter's pad, and down to the fine leg boundary.

Four leg byes.

Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport cricket correspondent at Edgbaston

Some 15,000 tickets have been sold for today, but I'd say fewer than half of the available seats are taken for the start of play. The building work of the new stand naturally affects the capacity and the feel inside the ground.

It could be the grey weather, or the fact that this series hasn't been much of a contest thus far, but it's all rather flat. It might be the most low-key first morning of a Test in this country since the empty grounds of the Covid summer.

Anthems done, Joe Root leads England onto the field and we're all set for the start of the final Test of the summer.

Ollie Robinson has the new ball in hand with Saim Ayub on strike for Pakistan.

Sir Alastair Cook
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

This Pakistan side are right on the ropes in chaos and maybe they'll produce something out of the ordinary in the next four days that nobody can see. Back in the day it wouldn't surprise you with the talent they had. I'm not looking at this team and expecting a different result.

Are we being foolish? Write Pakistan off at your peril. That's what I was always told when you play against them, when you think they're beaten they produce a performance.

They were always outstanding at finding a way of producing something special. You never gave them an inch because if you gave them an inch they'd take a mile.

Image source, Reuters

Here we go then, the two teams are out for the national anthems. The start of this third Test is not far away at all at a very grey Edgbaston.

England opener Emilio Gay, speaking to Sky Sports: "It has been brilliant. There have been obvious challenges thrown my way not just on the pitch. That is part of it. You have got to embrace that the best you can. I find it really enjoyable.

"It is exactly where I want to be. I am trying to pick the brains of people like Joe Root and Harry Brook in the dressing room."

Sir Alastair Cook
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

On the situation Pakistan find themselves in:

It's extraordinary. I don't think I could cope. The bit I do feel sorry for Babar is that I'm sure he will have been told it's about to happen but he said he fundamentally disagrees with it, and then he has to be the person that mops up all the mess when the chaos has happened.

All the players will go to the captain and ask if he knew about it. I don't know how he would have coped with that. Was he involved in any of the decisions? I'm sure with the Pakistani culture he probably wasn't.

Timothy Abraham
BBC Sport journalist at Edgbaston

Very grey and overcast here at Edgbaston at the moment and there were a few spots of rain in the air earlier. So the decision to bowl first was a bit of no-brainer for Joe Root after he had won the toss.

Image source, Getty Images

Three debutants for Pakistan, as Babar Azam mentioned, and they are wicketkeeper Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, all-rounder Mohammad Imran Randhawa and seamer Razaullah Khan.

England: Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox, Joe Root (capt), Harry Brook, Dan Lawrence, Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue.

Pakistan: Azan Awais, Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood, Babar Azam (capt), Saud Shakeel, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Razaullah Khan, Muhammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam: "It hasn't been difficult for me. We've got a few changes but it is a good opportunity for the new boys and we're trying to do our best in this game.

"The outside noise is not in our control. We are just tryin gto prepare for thi sgame and look after ourselves in this group.

"Mike Hesson has helped a lot. He is experienced and has a lot of knowledge. We have good communication.

"We will try our best to perform in this venue. I have a good white-ball record here. We've had a couple of outdoor and indoor sessions and absorbed the conditions.

"We have four changes - three debutants and Saim Ayub comes in."

England captain Joe Root: "We're going to bowl first. Like the overhead conditions. It looks a very good pitch but I feel like if there's anything in it, a bit of moisture around in the last couple of days and cool weather set for the next couple of days, so don't see it cracking or deteriorating too quickly.

"I feel like it's the best chance of getting the most out of it.

"We're unchanged. We wanted to try and replicate what we've been doing. We've played two brilliant performances. We want to build continuing that and becoming a team that gets used to winning and doing it in a certain way and this is an opportunity to do that.

"Clearly we've got a different team to play against this week but it's another opportunity to recognise how we can get the best out of these conditions and hopefully produce another strong performance."

On improving on his batting performances: "It's not like it's just been me, I think everyone's found it challenging and tricky and that's what keeps it fun and interesting.

"You always want to better yourself and find ways of scoring in different conditions when it's tough. I've worked extremely hard, as I always do, ahead of this game."