The weather chose to improve a little at the start of May – my previous attempts at watching county championship cricket so far this season had led only to some glimpses from the safety of the Long Room and/or Writing Room behind glass, April was so chilly.
I got to Lord’s just before lunch was called, then got ready for a bout of doubles tennis early afternoon, with a collection of players similar to the Bionic Quartet reported last summer:
One of our number was having his first go back after surgery, so we played for fun off the book.
I had informally arranged to meet up at some point in the afternoon with Ed Griffiths (our London Cricket Trust mastermind) and Madz, who does some photography for Durham CCC. Can it really be four years since Madz last came to Lord’s on such a mission in May?
Anyway, as it turned out, Ed was delayed until much later than he had intended to arrive, and Madz was engaged with matters photographic and the like also until late afternoon.
I thought I’d photograph Matt Potts in action this time, while waiting for the others
In the end, all three of us watched from the Warner Stand for a while late in the day. Here’s the scorecard from that match. A high-scoring draw. Why can’t they produce result pitches at Lord’s, I hear some irate, know-it-all readers cry!
Limited attention span, limited time available or weather-affected cricket?
Some elements of all three of those “reasons” meant that Daisy (Janie) & I spent just a few hours at each of those two matches.
England Women v India Women ODI At Lord’s 19 July 2025
It was bucketing down with rain in London when we rose on the Saturday morning of the women’s ODI. We agreed that the forecast suggested that there would be no cricket until mid-afternoon.
No matter. We both had things to be getting on with and had in any case planned an easy day at Lord’s for that match – go by car, just a few snacks in a bag, and “play it by ear”.
By the time we got to the ground, after word reached us that there should be no more rain and play in a much reduced match would be starting soon, we’d still only missed the first few overs of India’s innings.
Daisy’s favourite spot on the pavilion sun deck was gloriously available – see headline image and the image below, in which we both feel smug having secured Daisy’s favourite spot.
It isn’t the most intense cricket-watching view in the house, by a long way, but it is a lovely spot to just relax and sense the atmosphere in the ground.
The lower tiers of all the public stands were very full, despite the weather. It’s great to see this at a women’s international match. When Janie and I went to our first women’s international, at Shenley in 2003, I think we were the only people watching apart from the players’ friends and relations.
Zooming in on the action
We went for a nice stroll during the interval and did that thing we only tend to do once or twice each summer now: we each had a whippy ice cream with flake.
After finishing our ice creams, we politely took our leave of that endearing lady and went back to our seats for a while.
Soon it became very clear that the match was going England’s way and Janie’s analogue weather app (sixth sense) detected that there might be a passing shower or two on the way. I checked on my digital weather app, which agreed with her.
Middlesex v Northamptonshire, Day Two, Merchant Taylors’ School, 23 July 2025
How many for 8?
Our original plan had been to pop out to Northwood and see some cricket at Merchant Taylors’ School mid afternoon on Day One. However, part of our purpose had been an errand “out that way” which was no longer necessary and the weather looked distinctly iffy.
I was liaising with Yorkshire Simon over this, not least because he was also minded to go that day, but for the weather.
SIMON @10:00ish: Good morning. Very grey here…I won’t be home till lunchtime. Forecast isn’t brilliant.
ME @3:00ish: We finished other stuff a bit too late and the forecast is a bit too iffy for us “fair weather fans”! We might try again tomorrow.
SIMON @3:30: Very wise. It’s actually ok here but light rain is forecast.
The forecast looked much better for the afternoon of Day Two, although again Janie and I struggled to dispense with our other commitments quite as early as we would have liked.
Whisper it, folks, but both of us do still work, albeit part time. There is a rumour that our version of part time has more hours of actual work to it than a lot of people’s so-called full time work, but let’s not start fretting about that on Ogblog.
Anyway, we got to MTS while Middlesex were still batting, racking up a record high score. Daisy took the above picture early enough to prove that we were there to see the moment that Middlesex passed 600, which I think is the first time I have ever witnessed such a moment, although I have seen other teams surpass 600 against Middlesex a couple of times at least, and probably have seen bits of Middlesex innings that ended up past 600.
Trying to work out how rare an event this 600+ score really is, while also keeping tabs on England’s progress in the Old Trafford test. It’s not easy to be a cricket geek at an out ground, you know.
We stuck around long enough to see Middlesex take some wickets, although naturally I chose my moment for a loo break at the perfect time to miss one of those. A wag among the small but friendly crowd suggested that I should go to the loo again when I returned from that break grumbling about missing a wicket.
Daisy and I soon decided to make an early departure to ensure that we got home in good time and didn’t have too late a night – we both had busy days scheduled the next day.
It was Daisy’s first experience of the Merchant Taylors’ School vibe (weather and work commitments had confounded her several times previously) and she now absolutely gets why I like the out ground cricket there so much. It is very much “out her way” in terms of Daisy’s childhood – we drove home past her old family home on Batchworth Lane.
A few very relaxing hours in the midst of a rather busy working week.
The weather smiled on us – oh boy did it smile on us – for the first day of the cricket season.
Even as recently as Wednesday, Janie was wondering whether it would be warm enough for her at Lord’s in early April. She’s never forgotten an icy day at Lord’s in June, on her favourite sundeck:
Anyway, 4 April 2025 was no such day. Glorious sunshine. More than 20 centigrade in the shade. Who said 4 April was too early for the start of the cricket season?
A sizeable crowd at Lord’s for the first day of the championship. We ran into lots of people I know, but there was still plenty of time/room for us to sit a little and wander round the ground a few times. What bliss.
Middlesex batting four down…
Middlesex were doing quite well when we arrived…
…but soon they weren’t.
…Middlesex bowling without joy.Scrubbed up for an afternoon outDaisy took on the chin a minor reprimand earlier, for entering the pavilion sleeveless. The steward ever so politely told her to put her sleeve-endowed top on!It isn’t just youngsters who can do double-selfies, you know.
It didn’t rain – indeed the weather was ideally pleasant. No new variant of Covid suddenly broke out to prohibit gatherings at the cricket matches. Neither sling nor arrow of outrageous fortune befell us to frustrate our simple purpose: Janie and I wanted to host Fran and Simon at Lord’s and show them the pavilion.
The idea of the four of us spending a day together at Lord’s had been under discussion for about five years, frustrated by various unfortunate circumstances along the lines of the above paragraph. Given the iffy weather so far this season, we did indeed feel blessed to wake up to a weather forecast that suggested dry and mild, which indeed it turned out to be.
Fran (she of Pinner pears) and Yorkshire Simon (he of crude courgettes) had both been to Lord’s many times, but not recently and not previously in the pavilion. We had previously spent time with them on several occasions at outgrounds, but not at Lord’s.
Simon, Fran & Me at Radlett in 2019Me, Simon and Simon’s courgette, Radlett 2021
Anyway…
…on their arrival, we showed Fran and Simon the upper sun deck of the pavilion – Janie’s favourite place – which both of them took to immediately, so the four of us basically took root up there.
At lunch we showed them around the pavilion and also showed them the real tennis court, where a couple of my friends were doing battle but didn’t seem all that delighted to be observed; occupational hazard of choosing the 13:00 tennis slot on a match day.
Fran and Simon had brought lunch with them, whereas Janie and I had a crazy craving for the Long Room baps and salad, which we indulged in early in the afternoon session. Janie also indulged in a slice of cake in the member’s lounge.
Sam Robson bowling filth just before teaJanie took this picture during tea, before going to the lounge for cake
It was really nice to see Fran and Simon again after quite some while. We did a fair bit of catching up, general chatting and even cricket-watching.
In short – we four had a lovely day. Middlesex didn’t.
These days I’m far more likely to visit Lord’s to play real tennis than I am to watch cricket; or at least to play real tennis AND watch cricket. But this rare week had me at Lord’s three times to watch cricket without playing tennis.
England v India ODI 14 July 2022
The first of the visits was for the one day international (ODI) between England and India. I don’t much go to ODIs these days (World Cup in England year excepted of course) but I had planned to take Ian Theodoreson to the test match in 2020 (until Covid scuppered such plans) and the most suitable date for a rescheduling was this particular ODI.
Ian has had a tendency to choose what turns out to be one of the hottest days of the year for his visits to Lord’s with me. He did so four years ago...
…which might be connected with the choice of dates in mid to late July.
Anyway, this 2022 visit was Ian’s first in one of the wheelchair enclosures, a factor that at least allowed the opportunity for me to meet and host Sally Theodoreson for the first time, which was an absolute pleasure, plus an opportunity for the MCC to demonstrate one of the things it seems able to do very well indeed , which is to look after wheelchair visitors.
Actually, as it turned out, this day was far from the hottest day of the year – Janie and I had that “pleasure” to come at Lord’s a few days later, but still we were grateful to the stewards finding us some shade from which to view the match.
I made the substantive picnic – being smoked trout bagels, ham and cheese sandwiches, dry salads in cups plus plentiful fruits, not least some giant strawberries that were as big on flavour as they were in size. Sally and Ian brought the other items that make a picnic sing – savoury & sweet nibbles plus a very glug-able Shiraz wine.
A very enjoyable day, albeit a very long one for Ian and Sally, motoring up from Somerset and back on the day.
The Hottest Day Ever, Middlesex v Sussex Day One, 19 July 2022
Daisy awaiting the start of play, on the sundeck, having bagsed a parasol – yey!
We had planned to meet up with Fran and Simon at Lord’s that day, after first visiting (ironically, give Fran’s now former profession) the dental hygienist first thing. In the end, Fran and Simon gracefully withdrew from the plans and we resolved to give the match a try, but we were very much aware that the forecast was for the hottest day since records began. We suspected that we’d only stay until lunch.
Actually it was pretty pleasant up on that deck during the first session, although everyone was wondering why Tim Murtagh had chosen to bowl on the hottest day ever, so some of the Middlesex regulars were getting a bit hot under the collar.
Don’t I look cool considering it was the hottest day EVER?
I wanted to show Janie the view from the top of the new Upper Compton, so we wandered around that way, bumping into one of my tennis pals, Russ, with whom we chatted for a while as the temperature rose.
We didn’t stay up top for long – the view was great and the shade welcome but the breeze was almost non-existent by 2:00 and it was getting seriously hot.
We went home to swelter in the discomfort of our own home for the rest of the day, still wondering what Middlesex had been playing at choosing to bowl.
Young Men At Lord’s, Middlesex v Sussex Day Three, 21 July 2022
But in some company the phrase seems even more sarcastic than usual. For example, my third visit to Lord’s in a week, when I met up with young Jez Horne, who came to work as a summer intern at Z/Yen in the summer of 2005 and stayed for nearly 10 years…and Jez’s six-year-old son Nathaniel.
As it happens, I originally met Jez through Middlesex cricket. In fact, now I come to think of it, I conducted his internship recruitment interview while playing catch on the outfield at Southgate in the interval between innings of a Middlesex v Gloucestershire Sunday League match, 17 years ago.
Jez did a lot of serious numbers work with Z/Yen – scoring the charity cricket matches was the least of it
Returning to 2022, Jez and I agreed to meet up on this day while Jez was introducing six-year-old Nathaniel to the joys of Lord’s. It was a very enjoyable experience for me to witness a young child’s wide-eyed wonder at all the different viewing points and places we could show him there. Nathaniel had previously visited Radlett and Hove, which are both lovely grounds, but not, until that day, had he seen Lord’s.
Our circuit started in the Warner Stand, took in a photo-opportunity or two in the Grandstand, then we watched from the very top of the Compton Stand (from whence Nathaniel was sure the land below was flat and not a hill, as I kept asserting), then the lower Compton Stand (at which point Nathaniel changed sides and agreed wholeheartedly that the cricket field is indeed a slope) and then, before tea, the Upper Allen Stand.
We met plenty of people on our trek, including Barmy Kev, Russ (who was again wending his way home after tennis) and Fletch, who shared some thoughts on the “bowl first” decision with us.
Just before leaving home, I had found a small Virgin Active gimcrack beanie ball on a shelf, which I thought might come in handy…and it did.
Just before tea, as I started to wonder whether the little fella was ever going to run out of energy, we tried playing catch with him using that beanie ball. He struggled at first but within just a few short minutes he was getting the hang of it and catching far more than he was missing.
Come tea, Nathaniel wanted to see “Grandpa’s Garden”, as I tend to call the Harris Garden. (Well, Grandpa Harris WAS a gentleman of Marylebone, albeit not THE Lord Harris of Marylebone Cricket Club fame). In the garden, Nathaniel devised a game of catching and tag that might, to the untrained eye, seem to have the rule complexity of real tennis combined with the rule-adjustability of Mornington Crescent. The use of a hat to catch the ball would have met with particular disapproval had an MCC stickler for the laws of cricket witnessed the game.
Soon after tea, that energy lull finally occurred, so I said goodbye to the actual young men and reverted to being a “relatively young man” in the pavilion watching the remainder of the day’s play.
In there, somewhere
I had been due to play tennis early evening, but after messing up my right arm the day before on the modern tennis court, I had to gracefully withdraw, so spent a few minutes after stumps watching my would be fellow combatants play, before ambling home feeling very content.
Everything that needs to be said about that day, and more, is covered in that piece.
Middlesex CCC AGM 17 May
I was there. I played real tennis at Lord’s beforehand and then hung around for a bit ahead of the AGM. It was a meeting with drinks afterwards.
Middlesex v Durham 19 & 20 May
I barely saw any cricket before and after playing tennis on 19th, but I did see a bit.
The plan had been to take Fran & Simon as guests on 20th, but the weather was decidedly iffy, so we delayed that visit until July. Instead, I got stuff done at the flat in the morning and sauntered over to Lord’s to watch a few hours play as the weather cleared in the afternoon.
Before setting off I got a message from Madz, who is now part-timing as a photographer for Durham CCC, wondering whether I planned to be at the game that afternoon.
We agreed to meet beneath Old Father Time, her favourite vantage point for the photos. Also the favourite vantage point for travelling Durham supporters, who were, by the time I got there, making serious headway with their preferred brews. I’m not certain that they were all drinking Newkie Brown, but it felt and sounded like that sort of crowd.
It was good to catch up with Madz.
At one point, the soon-to-be-new-England-wunderkind Matty Potts came on as 12th man for Durham (being rested ahead of the test match) and fielded for a few balls in front of our stand.
I caught this picture on my smart phone as he came our way:
Matty Potts A Few Days Before Stardom
I was pleased with that photo. Madz wondered whether she could have done better with her Nikon and infeasibly long lens.
Did you get one of those, pet?
…asked one of the Durham stalwarts, as a few of them took a passing interest in my snap.
I missed it, unfortunately,
said Madz.
You’re only here for one thing, pet,
said the stalwart, inducing much laughter from the Durham crowd and also from Madz, who clearly knows those fellas well enough and was able to enjoy the joke.
I sent the snap to King Cricket, who agreed that it was the best picture of Matty Potts he’d seen so far and wondered if he might use it, which of course I said he could and he did on 1 June (naturally crediting me…i.e. Ged Ladd) and also 2 June:
As I get older, I realise that certain statements that older people make, such as, “the policemen look younger and younger” express how those older people feel, rather than an objective reality about the average age of policemen.
But when I say, “the county championship seems to start earlier and earlier” I believe that is pretty much true…although not by all that much.
The last time I froze this much, Daisy and I went to see the second day of the 2013 season in Nottingham, 11 April that year, reported on King Cricket at that time…
I had arranged to play tennis at 14:00. I got to Lord’s in time to see most of the first session of play. I decided to sit in the relatively sheltered central part of the pavilion forecourt, where I watched, read and chatted a little with one or two other hardy folk. The stewards reckoned I wouldn’t last long out there but actually it wasn’t too bad in the morning and the new soft padding on the pavilion benches…
…standards are falling…
…made the whole experience less painful than expected.
Young Josh de Caires bowling
After a very close game of tennis, which my adversary won by dint of the odd point here and there, I took my time over my ablutions and then grabbed a soft drink followed by a light bite and coffee – initially in the pavilion bar but subsequently, as the sun was shining, I took my coffee in the new Compton Stand – a vantage point from which I took the headline picture (also replicated above).
But even in the sunshine, it was bitterly cold by that afternoon period, so I decided to return to the pavilion.
By the time I got to the pavilion, Josh de Caires had taken a wicket. This was to be my burden all afternoon; I didn’t actually get to see a single wicket – I was either changing or on the move every time Middlesex took a wicket. One of the friendly pavilion stewards even asked me to keep moving around, as my moves seemed to coincide with Middlesex’s success so comprensively.
Anyway…
…I decided to focus on 19-year-old Josh de Caires’s bowling.
I watched for a while from one of my favourite vantage points, the writing room. If you ever wondered what it looks like from behind the sight screen, wonder no more – the above picture gives you a pretty good impression of it…indeed much like an impressionistic art work.
I had brought plenty of warm clobber with me and I decided to don the lot of it. After all, as Alfred Wainwright famously said:
“There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.”
Thus I braved the middle tier balcony, as evidenced by the following pictures…
…for about three overs, before I decided that jumper, thick jacket, scarf, hat and gloves were insufficient for me as the sun was going down on a seriously chilly April day.
I congratulated the handful of hardy folk who remained on the balcony, admitting to them that I was a wimp. One agreed. One consoled me by letting me know that I was far from the first to have tried and failed to brave the afternoon chill. One pointed out that I hadn’t lowered the ear-flaps on my hat, which might have made all the difference.
I watched the remainder of the day from the impressionistic comfort of the writing room. Naturally Middlesex took a wicket while I was ambling down one flight of stairs from balcony to room.
I had a very good day. I read, I chatted, I played tennis and best of all I watched some live cricket again.
I had hoped to keep a fair bit of time free to enjoy some cricket at Lord’s in this very last week of the English season. A new idea for a new County Championship format, to have a trophy final at Lord’s between the top two teams. Up to five days if necessary. Love the idea. Not so sure about scheduling into October, but heck, sometimes the weather is still sufficiently good for hardy cricket lovers to dare watch.
…Frank had been at Liverpool for the last match of Lancashire’s main campaign. He suggested that I look out for a promising youngster named George Balderson, who opens the batting and bowls.
On Tuesday 28th, the first day, I was hopeful to see a bit of George bat either before or after my 11:00 tennis match, as Lancashire had been inserted and I arrived at Lord’s at 10:40…
…by which time Lancashire was already 9/2 and George was gone.
I peeked briefly through the Allen Stand gap and then played a tough and losing game of tennis against a newbie…except that, as a former rackets champion, he could already hit the ball much, much better than me.
By the time I emerged from the tennis, play had just resumed after a rain-affected lunch break and Lancashire were 57/8. As I stood at the top of the steps to the Warner, watching politely while awaiting the end of the over, it became 57/9.
Brutality
The sole other arriviste at that entrance said, “it’s just brutal” in a distinct Merseyside accent. I thought he might be about to burst into tears.
“I’m sorry”, I said.
“It’s not your fault”, he said.
I mentally juggled headlines along the lines of “Only Wood Could Wield Much Wood” before deciding that I’m not much cut out for sports headline writing.
I watched the first two or three overs of the Warwickshire innings before heading home to get some work done ahead of a very enjoyable Zoom with Simon Jacobs & Jon Gorvett.
Wednesday being Janie’s and my FoodCycle day, I needed to get work done and couldn’t find time to show up at Lord’s at all, despite the fact that Rossmore Road FoodCycle is a short walk from Lord’s.
Thursday afternoon I was due back at Lord’s for tennis and managed to get there a good few minutes early. It felt like a bit of a race against time, as I spotted at lunchtime that Frank’s man, George Balderson, was still batting.
Would I get to Lord’s in time to see George bat and if so would I get there in time to see him reach 50?
Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeazy
I briefly took up a seat at the front of the new Lower Compton…
Not much more than a defensive push for four
And got a shot of George Balderson’s shot to get to 50. I sent the above image to Frank from my position in the Lower Compton: “Just snapped yer dude Balderson getting to 50”.
Then, aware of the time and feeling a bit chilly too, I went round to the tennis court, where Dominic inflicted the sort of drubbing on me that Warwickshire were inflicting on Lancashire.
Let’s be honest about this. Lancashire were already guaranteed promotion and Middlesex were already guaranteed to have missed out on promotion this year before I set off on this trip.
Lesser folk might have bailed out.
Not me. Nor Dumbo, The Suzuki Jimny.
Off we went, at about 7:30 on the Monday morning, arriving at Old Trafford around 11:30 after but one pit stop.
The main car parks were full, so Dumbo had to spend the day at the back of the largest temporary stand in Europe, still there after the Ashes test but decommissioned for this county match.
I then head off to the 1864 Suite to join the other green-bookers – very few from either county that day as it happens – perhaps because this day would have been Day Five of the Oval test, had it not ended in four days.
Splendid hospitality as always, not least from Keith Hayhurst.
I thought Middlesex bowled pretty well on a moderately responsive pitch – although I didn’t witness the first hour, new ball, bowling. But then Middlesex’s day one batting. Oy!
One Middlesex green-booker was so ashamed at the end of day one, he removed his Middlesex tie as he left…to walk the 20-30 yards to the Old Trafford on-campus hotel.
Me? I’d arranged a salubrious AirB’n’B at Stretford/Old Trafford borders:
“You have reached your destination…”Ah, the other side of the road; a bit better I suppose.
A session with Darren Long – very helpful in learning to aim at the tambour with my right arm from the service end and also how to respond to such a shot off the tambour with my left arm from the hazard end. This paragraph must mean a lot of nothing to those readers who are not real tennis aficionados, I do realise.
Rackets Court at Manchester – never tried itReal tennis court resplendent in the early morning light
After showering and changing, back to my digs to drop off Dumbo and then a 10 minute stroll to Old Trafford, to witness Middlesex score the highest ever 1st class score (anywhere by any team) after being 6-down for less than 40. Some comfort I suppose.
To add to my improving mood, I met Clive Lloyd along with Jack Simmons (the latter Janie and I had met at Southport); it’s always a big deal for me to meet one of my childhood cricketing heroes.
Then a chance to wander around the ground and chat with some of the Middlesex regulars.
After stumps, time to go home and freshen up before heading off to the Chorlton Tap to meet Alex (as planned) plus Sam (as arranged the day before) and Steve (who joined the party that very day). A very convivial gathering.
Wednesday morning, back to the tennis court, for an ill-fated match up with a big hitter named Jonathan. My injured right arm had reacted somewhat adversely to the drills the day before and I felt the overuse within 5-10 minutes. Fortunately he is a very friendly, nice chap so we had a good run-around with me playing left-handed off a high handicap and him getting the chance to practice his winners a lot. I donated my Thursday morning court to Jonathan which I thought was the least I could do to compensate him and the chap (a good friend and match for Jonathan) who had arranged an early slot, purportedly for me.
Good cricket on Wednesday, not least a decent second new ball spell late in the day that set up a good position for Middlesex overnight, subject to our boys batting decently Thursday (they didn’t).
A quite evening in with Benji the Baritone Ukulele again Wednesday (did I omit to mention Benji as Monday evening entertainment too)?
Image from Brighton a few years back
Thursday morning – with no tennis I made an early start back to London – dropping off stuff at the house and then passing through the flat on the way to the City for some work and a London Cricket Trust Trustees meeting.
Actually the story of this one starts a few weeks earlier; the Friday of the Lord’s test between England and Australia. 16 August. A rather wet day as it turned out.
Charley “The Gent” Malloy was my guest that day; our last visit to the Compton Stand prior to its demolition. In fact we got less than two hours of cricket before the rain came…then came and went for a while…then the rain came and made sure that those of us who had stuck it out for a while knew that it was time to go home.
In our rush to flee the mid August rain, Charley’s old faithful Heavy Rollers cap ended up in my bag.
We corresponded on the matter and I promised to put the cap in my “Lord’s bag” ahead of our next meeting; this 10 September date.
But come the morning of 10 September:
I was rushing around like a mad thing getting the picnic ready;
Life had intervened on countless matters to make “Charley’s cap” a little lower on my memory list than certain other things;
The weather forecast said that the day would be cloudy and possibly even a bit nippy.
So when the time came to load up the bags, I thought I could safely offload stuff I wouldn’t need, such as sun screen, sun glasses and what on earth did I need three caps for…one Middlesex cap might even be one to many but I’d retain just that one.
In short, I clean forgot that the Heavy Rollers cap in the bag was Chas’s, promised for return.
To add insult to injury, the morning turned out to be a gloriously sunny one, quite contrary to the weather forecast, rendering several of the rejected items desired items and naturally inducing Chas to enquire about his cap quite early in the day.
Neither of us bathed ourselves in glory during the ensuing post mortem.
Chas was bowling metaphorical googlies at me while I tried to maintain order
Chas was convinced that I was only teasing him and that I really did have the cap with me. I tried to get Chas to share the blame for the mistake, by suggesting that, if it really mattered that much to him, Chas might have sent me a reminder…
…we declared a truce, ironically after seeing Tom Helm receive his county cap, ahead of a lunchtime perambulation on a glorious early autumn day.
Chas, uncapped
Chas’s disposition continued to improve in the Warner, after perambulation, as we tucked in to the picnic of Alaskan salmon bagels, London sour sandwiches containing chicken with elderberry, lovage and lemon stuffing and a bottle of rather juicy Gewurtztraminer.
Middlesex bowled well to extinguish Durham for a modest score and then batted poorly to end the day behind the game.
I did offer Chas the opportunity to stop off at Clanricarde Gardens to collect his precious cap on the way home, which in many ways makes sense from Chas’s ease of journey home point of view. So that’s what we did at the end of a really enjoyable day at the cricket.
Next day selfie with old-style Heavy Rollers cap…MY Heavy Rollers cap
Anyway, fear not. I got a message from Durham fanatic Madz, otherwise known as 668, also otherwise known as Blackbird…wondering if I’d be around in the pavilion on Thursday for the climax of this match. She was planning on meeting up with some of the Durham regulars there.
As it happened, my meetings/scheduled calls all concertinaed into Wednesday enabling me to do that.
I assumed that Madz stands for Madeleine and thought that she might be amused by eponymous cakes as a peace offering. Which, in a way, she was.
Anyway, it took until just before lunch for Madz to find her way to the pavilion by which time I’d made almost no headway with my reading as I’d been chatting with a fine fellow in the writing room.
By the time I found Madz, she was sitting with a gentleman named Pelham who seemed astonished that I’d head of Pelham Humfrey as well as Pelham Warner. Even more astonished when I said that I’d witnessed some Pelham Humfrey recently:
Madz quizzed me about the nicknames Ged and Daisy for me and Janie, suggesting that it was all a bit confusing. I omitted to mention that Madz or do I mean 668 or do I mean Blackbird has (or at least had) plenty of on-line names of her own.
We half-agreed to regroup for the denouement after lunch, but by the time I’d taken some sun and finished reading my papers for tomorrow’s meeting, Middlesex had fallen apart yet again and crashed to defeat.
I walked home in glorious sunshine to find England in a relatively good position in the Oval test match…until they too collapsed before my eyes losing five wickets for diddly-squat on a flatty.
Perhaps I should give up watching my teams play cricket…until tomorrow.
