After a back-breaking, lung-busting game of tennis at Boston Manor Park, what better way for me and Janie to spend what is left of a Sunday Morning than pop over to Holland Park and see Barry Eaglestone’s wonderfully colourful photographic exhibition.
Barry is a friend from the Body Works West health club, where we have both been members for longer than all-but a couple of dozen other people. In short, I have known Barry for decades.
He has relatively recently turned a former hobby in photography into a fully-blown avocation. He has had several previous impressive exhibitions, one of which Janie and I very much enjoyed a couple of years ago.
This one, Colour is a Joyful Thing, which runs at The Ice House Gallery until 13 September, is especially eye-catching.
Barry’s innovation for this exhibition is to put some of his wonderfully composed and colourful photographs through some arty filters and print them on canvas.
But if you really want the wow factor from his work and can spare the time, get thee to the Ice House Gallery in Holland Park before close of play on 13 September 2026.
Holland Park itself looks surprisingly splendid at the end of a drought summer, although not as colourful as usual and certainly not as colourful as Barry’s exceptional splashes of photographic colours on exhibit.
Day Zero: 26 August 2026 – The Day Before the Test Match
I arranged to have a real tennis lesson in the middle of the day with Chris Bray. While I was battling away with my technique (or lack thereof), a gentleman ambled up the side of the court, clearly bewildered by the strange noise. He turned out to be Allahuddien Paleker, one of the umpires for the test match, who was on debut at Lord’s and had never seen the like of real tennis before. He was clearly fascinated; after asking a handful of questions he sat watching the lesson for about 20 minutes.
After returning home to do some work, I met up with Simon “Awesome Simo” Jacobs and Jon Gorvett, for a very pleasant evening at The Ship, then a quick guided tour of my recent Upper Marylebone Street/Thomas Paine research – see P7 of this linked issue of The Beacon and then dinner at The Grafton Arms.
Day One Of The Test: 27 August 2026
I had arranged to play tennis at 10:00 that morning. Unfortunately, I got soaked on the way to Lord’s for that early start. I now know for sure how to end a drought in London: arrange a Lord’s test match.
In some ways the tennis was well timed, as the start of the cricket match was delayed by rain, we tennis players got to see the start of the cricket match. Unfortunately, though, that sort of rain delay means that the tennis gallery is full of people eager for live action in the dry.
I’m not sure that four gentlemen of a certain age and stage at real tennis is quite the sort of action the assemblage was hoping for, but that’s what they got. Having said that, at least all four of us turned up and did our absolute best, which some cruel critics might suggest was not necessarily the case for all 22 players who eventually took to the cricket field for the next four days.
The headline photo is taken from the Upper Allen, which is only half built and not yet designated as a pavilion extension for test matches as the reconjoining has not yet happened. As a result of that factor and the weather, hardly anyone ventured up there for this test match making it an ideal location for me to enjoy some cricket and reading.
In the slot that was supposed to be lunchtime, we had an exhibition tennis match: the MCC Pros (Chris Bray & Chris Swallow) v the Petworth Pros (Louis Gordon and Tom Durack). It was an excellent hour of tennis, attended almost exclusively by tennis aficionados, as the cricket was rescheduled to run throughout that hour. Still the gallery was full of appreciative attendees.
Meesh and Paul
During the intervals I had some family get-togethers in the dedans gallery. Lunchtime with nephew Paul and Meesh Boswell. Teatime with cousin Mark and Clare Briegal.
It was a really pleasant day. I headed home early to avoid the crowds and the risk of getting caught in further rain.
Day Two Of The Test: 28 August 2026
The weather was much better this day. Again I played tennis in the morning – 11:00 this time, missing a fair chunk of the morning session but still seeing plenty.
The exhibition match on this day was Rob Shenkman: the No 1 (gold racquet) amateur and Darren Long, the Moreton Morrell professional, formerly of Salford and therefore one of Rob’s mentors. A great fun watch and seemingly a great fun match for the fellas to play.
I didn’t take any photos on this day, but I did graze on a little patch of thistles I had put aside for my lunch on this day.
I headed back to the flat and then on to the house reasonably early for a rather splendid dinner with Janie.
Day Three Of The Test: 29 August 2026
The weather chose to be at its most shocking today, which was a shame, as today was “Committee Room Day” for those of us on the Tennis & Squash Subcommittee. Janie very kindly chauffeured me to Lord’s so I wouldn’t get wet in my “finery”.
Fortune did smile on us to some extent, though, as the rain allowed us to see some of the professional tennis exhibition match, between Jack Josephs of Hampton Court (formerly Middlesex) and Levi Gale of Prested. It was a very good watch indeed.
After the match, the two joined us in the Committee dining room for some grub. Somewhat comedically, the MCC dress code would not allow these sporting titans to join us in their sports kit, as they were not from one of the designated cricket quads – the only people allowed to break the dress code. Levi borrowed Simon Heilpern’s clobber for lunch while Simon played tennis, a “suits you, sir” moment I captured for posterity with consent.
Kindly, the players took questions form the assembled tennis, squash and golf folk, Jack very generously admitting at one point that i beat him level early in his career. (It was his first week and I think maybe only his third hour on court – he is SO good now.)
The weather relented briefly, allowing all to see some cricket from the glorious position that is the balcony of the Committee dining room.
Such a privilege to watch cricket from that spot
Day Four Of The Test: 30 August 2026
We were early enough to witness the players playing keepy-uppy
Janie’s favourite day at a test match – Day Four Sunday. Often high on atmosphere, low on Champagne Charlies and quite likely to see a result. In truth, this test match was not the most atmospheric one we’ve ever attended.
Still, it was an opportunity to give Janie the Upper Allen Stand experience for a test match given the unusual status of that half-built, currently roofless space.
I said roofless, not ruthless.I gave my pillbox cap (cunningly disguised as a Turkish fez) an outingInnings three ending (above) / innings four starting (below)
My weather app was promising a hefty rain shower between 2:00 and 3:00, which settled on an imminent shower coming at 2:30. Around 2:20 I suggested that we take our possessions and retire to the dedans gallery ahead of the deluge. Conveniently, my doubles partner for this year’s HD Johns tournament, Lawrie Graham, was on court, so Janie got a chance to see what the fuss has been about. We met Lawrie’s mum in the gallery, who in turn seemed pleased to meet us briefly.
As Lawrie and his opponent came off court around 3:00, the announcer informed the crowd that play would begin again shortly.
England chipped away at the Pakistan wickets, but not without resorting to a bit of Dan Lawrence filth to try and extract a weird wicket or two (didn’t work)
Janie started to express some irritation at the handful of Champagne Charlies who were within braying distance in front of us and at the slightly colder weather post storm.
We decided to leave while we were both feeling good and sated with cricket, guessing, correctly, that we’d get home in time to see the last rites on the TV. On the way home, while I was driving, Janie got to see some of the carnival from an elevated view up on the flyover. A Lord’s test coinciding with carnival was a rarity, until The Hundred started messing with the first class schedules five years ago.
I certainly feel I made the most of this test match, despite its limitations as a competitive contest.
Day Six – A Different Type Of Test: 1 September 2026
After playing tennis at Lord’s that lunchtime…
…back at the flat, it was calculation test time.
Announcements about the following year’s International cricket seem to come earlier and earlier each year. This time, ahead of us even setting off for the Edgbaston test, an avalanche of messages from the MCC and Warwickshire for the Ashes next year.
Nigel suggested that I bring a pencil and paper with me to Edgbaston – I decided that I should reacquaint myself with my slide rule in order to try an calculate where we stand. Please note the yellowed instruction sheet and my mum’s carefully crafted block capitals on the outside of my slide rule’s case, to reduce the risk of some scallywag filching my device at school…or Edgbaston.
Day Nine- More Cricket & Tennis: 29 August 2026
Another day at Lord’s watching cricket was probably not exactly what I needed…
…but I wanted a lesson with Chris Bray that morning and there was a slot for me and Lawrie to get some doubles practice early evening. It would have seemed rude not to stick around between those two events and watch some of the MCC v MCC State Schools match.
Frankly I’d seen Daryl Mitchell score runs for fun at Lord’s before, when he played for Worcestershire. In many ways Haris Usman’s innings was more special, not least for the plethora of boundaries and then, towards the end, his increasingly obvious attempts to gift his wicket so that other players might have a go. Later I met his charming family in the pavilion and had a laugh about that ending, as well as a proper chat about how well he played.
You can have it all, if you want to watch the vid:
About two-and-a-half hours into the video, you’ll sense that Usman and Mitchell had been instructed to hit out and get out.
The cricket match ended at an ideal time for me to amble over to the tennis court for my early evening doubles.
More testing times to come next week at Leamington and Edgbaston.
Our excitement ahead of the The Hundred finals day was surely the fact that we would see Ella Eyre perform. After all, neither of the London teams had qualified for either of the finals, so we were really attending as neutrals, cricket-wise.
Contrast that with the extraordinary goings on in the 50 over county competition this year, in which Middlesex had qualified for a home semi-final – getting to that stage of a “List A” competition for the first time in 36 years.
Why didn’t you see that coming when you bought me a ticket for The Hundred Finals Day in early March?…
…asked Janie (aka Daisy)- a question to which no answer came to mind. I probably should have said:
We’ve seen Middlesex play Durham at Radlett before…with predictably hilarious results…
We toyed with the idea of Coxing and Boxing between Radlett and Lord’s, before bowing to the inevitable and conceding that our planned trip to the Ella Eyre concert was our fate. After all, Daisy had been planning her break dancing routines (or rather her ways of saying no to the suggestion that she try break dancing routines) ever since I showed her the following music video – in particular the dancing that starts about a minute in:
Thus, we played tennis in the morning, freshened up (while keeping an eye on the Radlett score of course) and then headed to Lord’s.
I thought a 13:30 arrival would allow us a great choice of seating in the Pavilion, but no longer is that so on The Hundred finals day. The families and guests which comprises much of the audience for this event are getting in earlier and earlier to grab the front terrace, including death row which used to be our dance floor.
We retreated to the sun deck at the top of the pavilion, which is, in any case, Daisy’s favourite spot. We were soon joined by a gentleman with a familiar-sounding voice who turned out to be an actor who was wondering what the Middlesex score might be.
We spent the women’s match chatting and watching a bit of the live cricket and utterly forgetting to take pictures. In truth the match was a one-sided damp squib – see details here if you wish. That was a bit of a shame, as our experience tells us that the women’s match is often a lot closer than the men’ s.
But we needn’t have worried at that stage of the day, as the Middlesex v Durham match seemed poised at that juncture, while the Ella Eyre concert was being set up.
Then Middlesex lost a lot of wickets at Radlett and I foolishly mentioned, not only that Middlesex were seven down, but also break dancing, to the actor gentleman. Disappointed at what he assumed to be Middlesex’s demise, and the onset of some music he wouldn’t much like, the gentleman made his excuses and departed.
Daisy and I decided to go downstairs and get “in amongst it” for the start of the Ella Eyre.
The gig started with a slow number and the backing singers, musicians and dancers, uniformly strangely clad in an almost funereal mode.
Ella could be seen on the big screen singing within the pavilion. It was apparent that she would join them on the stage by coming out of the long room using the traditional cricketer’s route…although not in a traditional cricketer’s style:
Ella dashed down the pavilion steps and then up the stage stairs
Daisy took a short video of this up-beat number, Just Got Paid, which I had used as part of the due diligence briefing pack, I hasten to add:
Then we went back up top to our seats, to watch the rest of the concert. I especially liked the fact that the women players, including the defeated Sunrisers Leeds, mingled together on the outfield, sitting and watching the concert together.
Ella also went walkies on the outfield.
It looks like one heck of an effort to stage these Finals Day Concerts, but I do think there’s something rather wonderful about them and embrace the idea that short form cricket is an entertainment event that tries to have something for all the family. It certainly means that we get a family audience for these matches, which is great to see.
By the time the concert was over and the players were getting ready for the men’s match, I glanced at my phone and saw that Middlesex were trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Indeed, they were making a very good job of dangling that “hope carrot” before my eyes.
I decided not to say anything to Daisy about the Middlesex match at that juncture, but I suppose she couldn’t help but notice that I was showing surprisingly little interest in the early stages goings on at Lord’s.
What’s up?
…asked Daisy. It seemed foolish to hide the truth from her. I showed her my phone, with the current score.
Oh my goodness, we’re going to do it…
…she said.
DON’T SAY THAT!
I replied, pointing out that the eighth wicket had fallen simply because Daisy had baited the cricket gods. Yet, Daisy persisted,
Almost at once, a generous message from Yorkshire Simon:
I’m delighted for you. Middlesex have been poor at getting over the line…but nothing like as bad as Yorkshire.
I didn’t dare tell him we were sitting at Lord’s watching The Hundred.
Anyway, Daisy and I sat out the rest of the Trent Rockets innings, while plotting our early escape. We figured that we could be home in time to see most of the Manchester Super Giants innings on the TV while celebrating Middlesex’s win with a glass of wine. And if The Hundred final proved to be an exciting ending, we’d be able to see it from comfortable seats and not have the heave of the departing crowd to contend with.
Zipping up my boots, going back to my Sarf Lundun roots.
Every time I visit the Oval now, it feels a little more posh/corporate and a little less like the folksy place where I first saw professional cricket as a kid. Even the gasholder is now a property development promising iconic something-or-other. Such is progress, I suppose.
The London Spirit women looked as though they would make some tournament progress in this match, only to stumble and fail to get beyond the line, ending the match with a rather thrilling tie. You can read all about it here.
Then, to add to the excitement, a rather interesting looking music act named Sistra. It was hard to see them properly in the distance, but you could see them on the big screen. They looked and sounded like this…
…except they weren’t sitting at a dinner table, obviously.
I’d suggest there was a slightly smaller crowd at the Oval for the women’s match than we get at Lord’s, and fewer people sticking around for the music concert. The Oval these days is a hive of bars and food stalls behind most of the stands. Those were well populated, as I discovered by walking around a couple of times; once early in the women’s match and once just before the start of the men’s.
We were being hosted in a Bedser Stand box, very close to the pyrotechnics – which can be welcome on a chilly evening but not so welcome on one of the hottest days on record.
The men’s match had more crash-bang-wallop to it. Indeed, one particularly nasty-looking incident quite close to our vantage point, to our left, when Lhuan-dre Pretorius and James Coles collided, both going for the same catch. It looked ghastly and reminded me of the one-man fielding calamity that Janie and I witnessed in 2009 at almost the exact same spot, that put paid to Tim Murtagh’s match that day and indeed a fair chunk of that season.
Mercifully, (returning to 2026), despite the long injury delay and some subsequent hobbling off by James Coles, Lheun-dre Pretorius was able to his bit with the bat, while James Coles wasn’t needed. You can read all about it here.
As is my wont with matches of this kind, I sloped off before the end in order to avoid the heaving crowds leaving the ground at the end of the match. It had been a most enjoyable afternoon and evening at the Oval.
Roll the clock forward just over a week and I was doing it all again at Lord’s, following a tennis lesson with Chris Bray late morning and some reading before the first match. I decided to go proximate with the pyrotechnics, so I would be able to compare the Lord’s experience with the Oval experience. I think it is fair to say that the ECB marketing people have invested heavily in homogenising that aspect of the experience. The tannoy announcer’s build ups and rabble-rousing cries are similarly homogenous.
It’s showtime. Make some noise.
I then retired to the sundeck for watching and reading.
I sent this image to Janie, who said it looked as though I was on a boat……so I proved that I was not on a boat, although LS were a little at sea by then.
Then we were treated to Jerub, who, like Sistra the week before, was really rather good.
I’m not sure that the Oval and Lord’s acoustics does justice to acts like Sistra and Jerub, but I do like the live music between matches.
I watched the first 50 balls or so of the men’s match live, then walked home and caught the end of the match on TV. What a luxury to be able to do that. Here’s what happened in that match.
Janie and I were there at Lord’s on finals day. I bet you cannot wait to read all about it, eh readers? It’ll be the next feature.
A rare sighting of Chris Bray, Chris Swallow & Henry de Lord, on court together
A brace of late changes allowed me the possibility of witnessing a rare, possibly unique, competitive bout between “The Lord’s Chrises” – Bray and Swallow.
Firstly, a most unfortunate accident on court for Robert Shenkman at Hampton Court Palace the previous weekend. While Rob is without doubt an unstoppable force in amateur real tennis, the walls of the Royal Tennis Court are also, without doubt, immovable objects. Fortunately, come the Thursday before the Cull matches, Rob was showing off his wound with a big smile and “no real harm done” chat at Lord’s, when we ran into him…
…but he was still to be off games with a doctor’s note for the David Cull Trophy. In stepped Chris Bray, our senior professional and former world No 2, to take up the top seed place for the Cull tournament. Hence a likely semi-final between our two pros, Chris Bray and Chris Swallow.
Secondly, a chance change to Janie’s hairdressing calendar, which meant that lunchtime on Saturday 25th was to be her rescheduled hair slot.
In that case, I’ll go to Lord’s and watch the semi-finals of the David Cull Trophy…
…said I. Once Janie found out what she would be missing, she bemoaned not being available herself, although I doubt if I’d have been able to drag her away from a sunny afternoon at home for indoor tennis that day.
The David Cull Trophy is a relatively new/renewed invitational competition, played level, open to amateurs and professionals with affiliation to or membership of the MCC.
The match between Messrs Bray and Swallow was an excellent watch. Chris Bray has not played competitively for years, while Chris Swallow still does play the occasional competitive match.
Both players had to play a quarter final in the morning before taking on each other in the semi-final.
I have scraped the final few minutes of all of the sets from the two semi-finals.
Let’s join the Bray v Swallow match at 4-4 in the first set:
Now let’s join the second set at 3-3:
The second semi-final was between two of our (MCC’s) very best amateurs: Neil Roxburgh and Ben Yorston.
Neil returning (above), Ben returning (below).
This match was also a very good watch.
Let’s join the first set at 3-3:
Afficionados might notice that the second match was marked by Chris Bray, hot off his 22 game marathon with Chris Swallow. At one point during the first set, when dropping off some balls in the dedans, Chris said, “starting to seize up a bit now”, which was unsurprising but spoke volumes about his enduring commitment to his work. I sense that he wanted to have a good close look at Neil and Ben’s play.
Let’s now join the second set at 5-1. Neil went through a lull at the end of the first and the start of the second. You’ll see signs of revival and some excellent rests in this final reel:
So there you have it. The final will be on Sunday 2 August at 1:00 pm between Chris Bray and Ben Yorston. Anyone with access to the ground for the Middlesex v Yorkshire cricket match that day (i.e. MCC members, Middlesex CCC members and/or anyone with a ticket for the cricket match) is welcome to have a look. It should be a truly excellent match and could well be a close one, with youth and recent tournament practice on Ben’s side, while Chris brings experience, albeit less recent, from the very highest level of match play.
It’s a shame that Janie and I won’t be there…unless changing circumstance intervenes yet again.
If any readers have a crazy craving for watching all of the quarter-final and semi-final action from that day, a seven hours of streaming is still up there to be seen/skimmed.
Janie and I like a bit of live music. And we like going to Lord’s. And we like cricket. The Hundred might have been designed just for us. OK, perhaps not our first choice of music and our first choice of cricket format, but you cannot have everything. We always enjoy these afternoons and evenings.
On this occasion, we had business to attend to earlier in the day – kitchen and sound system planning doesn’t do itself, you know. And once we have really acquired the taste for thumping bass, rap music, we’ll need better speakers than those we currently sport in the house.
When we arrived at Lord’s, the monosodium glutamate (MSG) women’s team had already dispatched the London Spirit Women for the square root of diddly squat.
We decided to eat. Tasty pork baps and salad were the order of the day in the Long Room Bar.
Then we thought we’d better watch a bit of cricket. A very little bit of the women’s match as it turned out, but still we were able to get a vantage point on Janie’s beloved sun deck.
Then a short break before the highlight of the day – Tinie Tempah.
I tried to explain to some of the regular gentlemen around us that Janie is more of a Tinchy Stryder person than a Tinie Tempah-ista. I then asked the gentlemen who their favourite rappers might be. It took them a while to realise that I was pulling their legs…
…before amazing them with my rapper dance moves. I am quite sure the gentlemen had never seen anything quite like it – indeed one or two of them said words to that effect. Here’s an example of Tinie’s work with dancers doing some very similar moves to those I displayed:
For those who missed the concert…or perhaps even were there but couldn’t hear very much…here are a couple of Tinie’s best numbers, which he did perform on the day:
After the main event, we had just a little energy left to watch a bit of cricket. London Spirit bowled first and seemed to restrict MSG to a modest total.
James Coles showing his much-mentioned £390,000 worth with the ball
We left about half way through the London Spirit innings, with the match poised but tilting in MSG’s favour, as indeed it turned out, in a nail-biting finish which we caught when we got back to the flat.
A second visit to The Wig in one week – this will be our last of the season. While we planned two visits in quick succession, I hadn’t realised, when we booked these concerts, that we would be seeing Karim Sulayman twice in one week:
Janie and I reckon that Karim noticed – he gave us an appreciative nod as the ensemble left the stage on the Friday.
As with the Tuesday concert, we were treated to a mixture of early music and modern serious music. In truth, as always, the early music did much more for us than the modern.
This is what we heard:
Pauline Oliveros – Sounds from Childhood from Sonic Meditation
Lara Agar – slow two (arranged by Colin Alexander)
Jean de Ockeghem – D’ung aultre amer (arranged by Colin Alexander & Héloïse Werner)
Claudio Monteverdi – A che tormi il ben mio (arranged by Colin Alexander & Héloïse Werner)
William Byrd – Come woeful Orpheus
Claudio Monteverdi – Non m’è grave il morire
Josquin des Prez – Entré je suis en grant pensée (transcribed for cello trio)
Interval
John Dunstaple – O rosa bella (transcribed for cello trio)
Josquin des Prez – En l’ombre d’un buissonnet
Claudio Monteverdi – Amor, per tua mercè vatten’a quella
John Dunstaple – Puisque m’amour (arranged by Colin Alexander & Héloïse Werner)
Claudio Monteverdi – Ecco mormorar l’onde SV51 (arranged by Colin Alexander & Héloïse Werner)
Colin Alexander – Intro
Héloïse Werner – Light, persists for vocal quintet and cello trio (world première): I. introduction • II. quidquid • III. luce • IV. fuit • V. tenebris • VI. agit • VII. chorale
The musicians clearly enjoyed performing the modern music – especially Sounds From Childhood. I had that “I can get all that at home” feeling when hearing the gurgling and raspberry noises.
There’s not much Héloïse Werner and Colin Alexander on-line, but here is a short concert extract that gives an idea of their modern music style.
I am especially partial to a bit of Ockegham. Here is a recording of D’ung aultre amer.
We are also partial to a bit of Josquin. Here are The Kings Singers performing En l’ombre d’un buissonnet:
I was particularly keen to hear some Dunstaple live – you don’t get a lot of Dunstaple live round these parts. Here’s a recording of Puisque M’Amour.
The Monteverdi worked especially well as arrangements for voices and cellos. In the absence of that, here is a decent recording of Ecco Mormorar L’Onde:
Janie and I had never been to Wormsley before. I was especially keen to spend a chunk of the Knight-Stokes Cup Southern Semi-Finals day there, as I am a keen advocate for and supporter of state schools cricket, not least through my role as a Trustee of the (soon to be concluded) London Cricket Trust.
Janie and I also pencilled in two or three additional dates for Wormsley this season, in the hope that weather and other commitments would allow us to attend for a while, by way of a reconnaissance mission.
2 July 2026: Buckinghamshire v Middlesex
2 July presented a suitable window of opportunity for us, with the weather and appointments diaries both allowing. Buckinghamshire v Middlesex – presumably a warm-up friendly for Middlesex to prepare for the 50 over cup. It was certainly seriously warm up there in the Chiltons.
By the time we arrived, Middlesex had dispensed with Buckinghamshire and the small but loyal crowd were enjoying the interval at that beautiful ground. But soon the cricket restarted.
Gently watching on – Middlesex at Wormsley styleGed: How do you spell reconnaissance? Dingy Bags: Look it up yourself, you muppet. Beefy: How do you spell muppet?
Middlesex seemed to be making short work of Buckinghamshire’s modest total.
But nothing much seems to cheer the loyal Middlesex fans these days, not even the realisation that there is a quality gulf between first class and minor counties. I suppose we/they have always known that.
16 July 2026: John Hampden Grammar School v Queen Elizabeth’s School Barnet, Chelmsford County High School For Girls v Bournemouth School for Girls
Someone (not me) was video-ing the whole of the boys match
Our time window on this day was a bit longer than it had been on 2 July, but the boys match started early, such that our pre-noon arrival at the ground still meant that we had missed out on the John Hampden Grammar School’s innings in this 20 over tournament. (128, seeing as you asked).
Unsurprisingly, given John Hampden School’s location in High Wycombe, just down the road from Wormsley, the small crowd almost entirely consisted of friends and families of that local team. Janie and I sat amongst them in the tree-shaded area. We were made to feel most welcome.
Queen Elisabeth School batted well at times, but mostly looked behind the required rate given the regular falling of wickets. At one point, one of the John Hampden boys shouted out to his playing mates, “you’ve got this one nailed”, at which point the QE batsman hit a couple of fours to make the target seem possible again. “No-one should ever say that in a cricket match”, yelled one of the grandads, partly in faux-anger but also, I suspect, a tinge of nerves for his grandson’s team.
In the end John Hampden Grammar School did prevail, by 11 runs if I remember correctly.
There was quite a long interval between the two matches, while the girls teams warmed up and we strolled around .
Janie merely pretending to need the defibrillator. It was not that hot and we were mostly in the shade.A view through the pavilionJanie: Oy – who nicked my massage couch? The fine dining was set up for that evening’s Garsington Opera crowd – not for the likes of us.
We met some non-plussed and/or grumpy-looking model cricketers…
…possibly fretting that they too were excluded from the Garsington high tables
When we returned to our shady spot, the High Wycombe locals had been replaced by a posse of mums and grandmas from Chelmsford, supporting their girls against the Bournemouth ones, who appeared to have come by coach without a posse of supporters.
As with the High Wycombe folk, the Chelmsford women were very welcoming towards us, in our capacity of independent observers. They seemed quite accepting of the fact that we were only going to be able to watch about 10 overs of the girls match, which started a bit later than advertised, as I needed to get back to Lord’s to curate tennis club night.
Chelmsford were fielding, and the mums/grandmas were in a state of great excitement for almost every ball, even at this early stage of the match. “Stop the ball”, “throw it in”, “back it up”…
The match seemed well poised when we left at the 10 over mark. We learn from this Bournemouth School Facebook posting that Bournemouth scored 125/7 in their 20 overs and took the match to a last ball finish, from which Chelmsford prevailed. I dread to think what a state those Chelmsford mums and grandmas were in by the time it got to that last ball, given their level of excitement in the early stages. Just as well that defibrillator is at hand, plus a St John’s Ambulance presence, despite the small crowd.
We had a lovely time. Wormsley is a beautiful ground. And it was great to support the Knight-Stokes state schools competition in its inaugural year.
Unfortunately Janie and I cannot be at the Lord’s final this year, as we shall be at the Edgbaston test match that week. But I would thoroughly recommend that people attend if they can. The quality of the cricket, both boys and girls, was pleasingly high. We also met some really engaged and engaging cricket enthusiasts watching on, who will no doubt be at Lord’s in numbers, on Finals Day, 10 September 2026.
Claudio Monteverdi – • Sì dolce è’l tormento SV332 • La mia turca che d’amor
Trad/Sephardic – La Prima Vez arranged by Karim Sulayman & Sean Shibe
Trad/Andalusian – Lamma Bada Yatathanna arranged by Karim Sulayman & Sean Shibe
Sayed Darwish – El Helwa Di arranged by Karim Sulayman & Sean Shibe
Ziad Rahbani – Li Beirut based on Joaquín Rodrigo arranged by Karim & Fairuz Sulayman & Sean Shibe
Jonathan Harvey – Sufi Dance
Layale Chaker – A butterfly in New York
Tōru Takemitsu – I. Wainscot Pond (after a painting by Cornelia Foss) from In the Woods
Benjamin Britten – Songs from the Chinese Op. 58 • The Big Chariot • The Old Lute • The Autumn Wind • The Herd-Boy • Depression • Dance Songs
Encore: Tomás Méndez – Cucurrucucú paloma
We were fully engaged from the Purcell through to and including the enchanting Li Beirut arrangement.
The more modern music, as is often the case, was a struggle for us. I never have “got” those Britten songs and I’m sure now I never will.
Still, the concert was a triumph. Janie especially liked the baroque pieces -not least the Italian songs, and the encore. Which is is just as well because we shall be returning to the Wig three days later (today, as I write) for some more of that sort of thing. Indeed I have only just (subsequent to booking) realised that Karim Sulayman is part of the ensemble that we’ll be hearing.
If you are keen to hear pretty much the whole Broken Branches thing, here is a stream from 2024, when the pair performed the same concert in Philadelphia:
Janie and I blocked out the day to do research for our planned house refurb, and to visit Lord’s. We wanted to take a look at some women’s cricket – two matches against a visiting squad from the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and a Real Tennis Women’s Day that had been organised around the SCG visit. Oh, and we were also going on to the Wigmore Hall for an evening concert.
Mr Logistics (that’s me) worked out that all of this activity could be undertaken in Bayswater and Marylebone, mostly on foot with some minimal use of the underground sauna otherwise known as The Tube.
The paint business took a little longer than we expected, whereas the SCG Women’s Team dispatching the Middlesex Women’s team apparently took less time than people had expected. Basically Janie and I arrived in the pavilion as the first cricket match was concluded.
No matter – we were a bit peckish having walked from Westbourne Grove to Lord’s, so we soldiered on to the Nursery End of the ground, where I had been wanting to show Janie HoAM – the tasteful new cafe in the performance centre – for quite some time.
Tasteful environment, with tasty and mostly healthy grub
Determined not to miss out on seeing some cricket we made sure we were back in the pavilion for the very start of the second match.
Getting ready to goAh, cricket!
But we really wanted to have a proper look at the real tennis women’s day, so only watched the cricket for a few minutes before retreating to the tennis.
Ah, off to see the tennis I suppose…
…said Paul, the steward, who seems to have us well and truly worked out by now.
The atmosphere was warm and convivial – aided and abetted by some fizzy pop of the intoxicating kind, provided generously by Graeme Marks.
Janie and I politely declined. We had photos to take, shelving to examine, shoes to buy and music to listen to. It could be positively dangerous to do those things under the influence.
Several of the women, plus Chris Bray, warming down in the dedans (above)…while Mary Strevens and Lucie Grosset warmed for the final round robin match up on the court.
Janie and I watched that final round robin match: Mary Strevens & Lucie Grosset v Rhona Russell & Anisha Charania. It was a good battle, fought hard. Mary and Lucie were on the wrong end of the match itself yet fighting hard to try to scrap an extra game or two. We discovered that they were striving for a final place that would be determined on the number of games and boy did they show some fight to get there.
Ahead of the final, which Janie and I were unfortunately unable to attend due to our furniture appointment in a more southerly quarter of Marylebone, I was commissioned to take the group photo. Janie took a photo of me taking the photo, which rather breaks the “Bismarck” laws and sausages rule, in my opinion.
A dozen people all smiling with their eyes open doesn’t just happen, you knowThanks to Kate Evers for the photo finalists Sarah Sullivan, Mary Strevens, Chris Bray (marker) Peta Louise Jeffery & Lucie Grossett.
Mary Strevens is a new addition to the MCC squad, who had the dubious honour of playing her first competitive match for the MCC in January’s MCC v Old Harrovians match partnering me. We did OK. Still, failing to learn her lesson, Mary has also attended club nights on several occasions and also skills night. So, despite the fact that she is significantly better at tennis than I am, I feel that she is to some extent my mentee. Yet, despite that, she has nevertheless retained a strong competitive spirit and will to win, which progressed, in partnership with Lucie Grosset, into a tournament win on the day. Well done to both of them.
But everyone’s a winner on such a day, really. The spirit and convivial atmosphere was wonderful to behold, as was the quality of the tennis emerging from a morning of coaching followed by an afternoon mini tournament. I do hope the idea can become a regular feature in our MCC real tennis calendar.
You don’t want to know about our furniture research and Janie’s shoe shopping, now do you? Thought not.
But just in case you do want to know about the guitar and tenor concert we heard at the Wigmore Hall, here’s a link:
