Tag: London Spirit Women

The Rest Is Cricket: Radlett & Lord’s In The Second Half Of August 2025

Clarification: The Headline Photo Is Lord’s. Not Radlett.

Readers of this piece might be deceived into thinking that I spent an entire fortnight at the end of August 2025 watching cricket. Nothing could be further from the truth.

However, the only photogenic and noteworthy events I attended, as it happens, were cricket. The rest is… [insert your choice of expletive here].

17 August: Middlesex v Yorkshire At Radlett

Much like the Middlesex batting, the camera at the Salter’s Field End couldn’t keep up

A long in the planning arrangement to meet up with Yorkshire Simon & Jilly Black at Radlett, where Middlesex & Yorkshire were to do battle in a One Day Cup match.

The events in the days prior to the match seemed almost too good to be true. Both teams were towards or at the top of the table, making the clash meaningful tournament-wise, unlike our previous meet-up there for the same fixture a couple of years earlier:

A Day At Radlett Watching One Day Cricket With “Pinner Pear Fran” & “Yorkshire Simon”, 22 August 2023

Also, it seemed that the weather would smile on us for the day, as it had done in 2023. That is one good thing about having the plethora of outground cricket in July and August – those are probably the most reliable months for dry weather, which really is a big help at outgrounds like Radlett.

We all turned up. Even some of Simon’s friends who we hadn’t been told to expect turned up, which added to the “informal gathering” vibe.

Sadly, Middlesex didn’t turn up, but we don’t need to talk about that bit. In 2023, Yorkshire barely turned up.

Jilly had never been to a cricket match before. Being someone who wouldn’t exactly describe herself as a sports lover, she showed some reluctance at having the LBW law explained to her in excruciating detail. Nor did Jilly seem keen to understand the difference between finger spin and wrist spin.

Jilly did, however, notice a women sitting in front of us, whose posture on the portable folding chair brought on a quite extreme “builder’s bum” appearance. I would never have noticed such a thing, but Jilly pointed it out to Janie and Janie then pointed it out to me. Once such a thing has been pointed out to you, it is hard to avoid taking the occasional glance, although I think I did better self-control job than Jilly:

Me, watching the cricket, Jilly, taking in the crack

Janie was too polite to photograph the costume malfunction woman, who, I hope, remained oblivious to the distraction she had unwittingly caused.

It was a weird afternoon in more ways than just bum cleavage. When Janie and I went to the loo, we noticed a person, quite clearly an elderly man, entering the women’s portacabin toilet. Janie and another woman went in soon after. I waited outside until all had emerged, just in case. First the man, then the other woman, then Janie. The two women paused to have a chat about the experience, as Janie had challenged the man, gently, asking…

…are you in the right place?

Yes…

…said the man, incredulously.

I went through the appropriate door, did my small amount of business and then turned/returned to photograph the portacabin toilet doors, to see if there was any ambiguity in the signage:

Unambiguous

“No ambiguity there. Perhaps the wrong-door-old-geezer was a little tired and emotional”.

None of this stopped us from having a very enjoyable afternoon at Radlett with Simon and Jilly.

20 August: The Hundred At Lord’s Plus The Night Tapes

Warner facing up to the Northern Superchargers

The weather was great. Janie and I got to Lord’s in good time and bagged one of Janie’s favourite spots on the sun deck. We enjoyed the women’s match pretty much in its entirety and then went to have a quick look at the tennis court, which turned into a longer look than intended such that we missed most of the gig, which is a shame because I quite liked the dreamy sound of IIris and her gang, The Night Tapes, when I researched the matter oh so thoroughly the night before the gig.

I especially liked this one, when researching:

As is often the case for us on these The Hundred days, we had enjoyed ourselves enough by about 65-70 balls into the first of the men’s match innings, so we grabbed some shawarmas from The Cedar stall on exit and followed the end of the match on TV while munching and drinking some wine.

Our day on finals day ended similarly, but before that day ended…

31 August: The Hundred Finals Day Including A Perrie Concert

Davina Perrin batting for the Northerns – remember where and when you first heard her name

Again we got to Lord’s in good time, although we were, for the first time in ages, to take in this match from the Warner stand, not the pavilion. I had prioritised a physiotherapy appointment over being able to log in first in the queue for The Hundred tickets on the day the tickets were released. 😇

Actually it was a nice perspective on finals day – not least because we could hear the hullabaloo better from the Warner than you can up top in the pavilion.

The women’s match was a good one.

During the interval between matches, Barry Nathan popped over for a chat.

After being elevated in front of the media centre, Perrie popped around to our stand, bringing her dance-and-pose troupe with her:

You can see Perrie’s full performance through this link.

Or you might prefer the highlights that Janie (Daisy) videoed for herself which, obviously, are better…or at least, shorter and more to the point:

After all that commotion, even the fireworks at the start of the second match seemed tame:

After watching the end of the second match at home over shawarmas and wine, I did wonder whether the Oval franchise might be renamed The Oval Inevitables unless the authorities change the recruitment rules for future seasons.

Still, Janie and I always enjoy these days out at Lord’s, and this year’s finals day was no exception.

Four Noteworthy Days In Oh Such Different Ways, 12 to 15 August 2025

Nat Oaks At Lord’s, 14 August 2025

Tuesday 12 August: Goodbye Hydrotherapy At Riverstone, Hello Chelsea Arts Club

I had my last hydrotherapy session for my hip surgery rehab with Michael Lambert at Riverstone that afternoon – highly recommended if you are recovering from major surgery or injury, btw. My entire focus now will be on the more gruelling home and gym based physio.

Criss-crossing the Borough all day – later that afternoon, I ventured to the Chelsea Arts Club, where Tony Friend had kindly arranged to introduce me to Nigel à Brassard, a fellow avocational writer/historian who is also to speak at the Real Tennis Society history conference next month. A most pleasurable early evening with some very interesting note-swapping. I think Nigel’s notes to me will have helped me far more than my notes will have helped Nigel. I don’t suppose he minds.

Wednesday 13 August: A Sad Day At Stuart Morris’s Funeral

A few week’s ago Janie and I were shocked to learn that Stuart, Annalisa’s husband, had died suddenly and unexpectedly of heart failure. We resolved to keep the funeral day free and attended the moving and dignified ceremony at Bierton Crematorium.

In truth, we did not know Stuart well, having met him perhaps once or twice before attending Annalisa & Stuart’s wedding, all those years ago:

A Long Weekend Near Dumfries For Annalisa de Mercur’s Wedding, Then Sharrow Bay For Afters, 12 to 15 September 1998

But of course we did know Annalisa well and wanted to be there for her. As it turned out, it was a very large gathering, as Stuart had been extremely popular and well -regarded by friends, police colleagues and even his latter-day colleagues from Whipsnade Zoo, whom Stuart had not known for long but the several who attended seemed much affected by their time with him, which had been so cruelly cut short.

Thursday 14 August: Nat Oaks Concert At Lord’s, Before & After Which Was Some Tennis & Cricket

I love being able to combine tennis and cricket on visits to Lord’s. Not least when this combination of activity affords the opportunity to watch some cricket with a fellow tennis player or two. On this occasion, some relatively gentle doubles (playing entirely left-handed at the time having torn my bicep tendon in late July), followed by The Hundred matches between the London Spirit and Trent Rockets, with Nat Oaks performing in-between.

Max McHardy, from The Bionic Quartet…

Plums, Spirits, Gunns & The Bionic Quartet: Only At Lord’s, 5 & 8 August 2025

…was one of the four again. This time, we had the opportunity to watch some cricket and contemporary music together after our game. It was great to watch some cricket with Max, as we had never much discussed cricket before, given the highly focussed nature of our mind sets, and therefore conversation, when playing tennis.

Max had never watched women’s cricket live before and I think was quite taken with it when observed from the rarefied atmosphere of the Lord’s pavilion terrace. We are so privileged being able to use those facilities as “our cricket club-house”.

I’m not sure that Max was as sure about the music of Nat Oaks. I rather liked it, having extensively researched the subject ahead of the match (i.e. I had watched two on-line vids before setting off for Lord’s).

This is what she looked like performing live at Lord’s – thanks to BBC Music:

Max stuck around for almost half of the men’s match. I stuck around for the entire first half of it.

Friday 15 August: A Day Chatting & Eating With Ben Schwarz

A follow up session with Ben Schwarz to try and cover some of the items we had meant to chat about when we met up at Lord’s a few weeks ago:

What Does He Know Of CLR James, Who Doesn’t Cricket Know? A Most Enjoyable Day At Lords With Benjamin Schwarz, 25 July 2025

It was a most pleasant way to spend a large chunk of the day. We nattered for so long over a pot of tea at Clanricarde Gardens, that by the time we got to The Orangery in Kensington Gardens, they’d stopped serving the lunch menu and had moved on to the high tea menu. A suitable venue for high tea, we shared one of those and then strolled in the gardens chatting some more.

This photo, in truth, from 1994, but the look of the place on a sunny day hasn’t changed

Naturally, we didn’t quite complete the list of topics we had been hoping to discuss, so we’ll chat some more in the autumn. It will be interesting to compare notes from our respective times in the USA when next we meet.

Plums, Spirits, Gunns & The Bionic Quartet: Only At Lord’s, 5 & 8 August 2025

Tennis, Followed By London Spirit v Oval Invincibles Double-Header, Observed Mostly From Pelhams, 5 August 2025

Actually I’m not sure whether we are supposed to pronounce the Lord’s Warner Stand Restaurant, which is named Pelhams, “Plums” or “Pelhams”. These days, probably the latter.

Anyway, I was cordially invited to enjoy the first The Hundred day of the season, London Spirit v Oval Invincibles, from the giddy heights of that restaurant, courtesy of the committee, as a thank you for being on the tennis subcommittee.

Here’s me looking suitably giddy up there. I took this picture to alert Colin Stutt, aka Olaf The Buddhist Viking, to the fact that I was there. I reported Olaf’s baby steps into cricket thusly:

A new fan at the London Spirit v Southern Brave washout – a match report

Since then, his enthusiasm for our sport has led him as far as Perth to watch a Women’s test match and back to Lord’s a couple of years later with a party of eight, including his daughter, Laura, for her 30th birthday treat – Laura’s idea! I conspired with Olaf to arrange a surprise personal tour around the pavilion for Laura during the interval between the two matches.

But before all of that, I had a good left-handed hit on the real tennis court with John Beatty & Giles Stogdon, ably assisted by Chris Bray who mopped up after my less penetrative shots. I thought I played quite well in the circumstances.

Then to Pelhams, where the tennis subcommittee was being entertained along with several other subcommittees, including the folk that organise the MCC cricket fixtures. The women’s fixtures committee included two people I know well: Leshia Hawkins from the ECB and Marilyn Smith from Middlesex.

Having done my homework a little earlier in the day, I surprised my fellow guests with my knowledge of the chanteuse who was to entertain us during the interval: Mimi Webb.

Just as well that no-one was able to challenge the depth of my knowledge there.

Leshia and I bonded further in the matter of music by both recognising one of the songs available for The Hundred app users to choose as the walk-on music for Danielle Gibson: Ride On Time, which, I am delighted to announce, was chosen by the majority and therefore played. A rare success for me – both recognising the song and being successful in choosing it.

The women’s match was a good one, with lots of runs and a fairly tight finish.

Walking round to the Edrich Stand to collect Laura for her surprise tour reminded me why I normally choose any time other than the intervals for walking around. The ground was heaving.

Still, we navigated the crowds and I was able to provide Laura with a fairly comprehensive, albeit slightly idiosyncratic tour of the pavilion. I don’t suppose many tours focus quite so much on the portraits of Spencer Ponsonby-Fane and Rachel Heyhoe Flint, but we had our reasons.

Laura was wearing a sash announcing that it was her 30th birthday, which encouraged many people to greet Laura warmly and wish her happy birthday. Laura surmised that I must know lots of people in the pavilion, which was slightly true, but a lot of the friendly greeters were not people I know – they were just friendly people. It is a genial collection of folk, young and old, in the pavilion on The Hundred days. I welcome it wholehearedly.

After Laura’s tour, I got back just in time to chow down eagerly, while watching the men’s match fizzle disappointingly. While the women’s match had been an excellent advertisement for women’s cricket, I thought the men’s Hundred match was a good advert for test match cricket, coming just a day after the end of a magnificent test series. Still, that second match gave me an opportunity to chat with some of my fellow tennis committee folk and also some of the other people in Pelhams that evening.

Without Leisha’s guidance, I made a foolish choice of walk-on music for the men’s match, not recognising the name Insomnia as the following track, which contains an infectious riff, which is very suitable (once you get 2/3rds of the way through the track) and was indeed chosen:

An exhilarating afternoon and evening: I got plenty of sleep that night.

Playing Tennis & Watching Cricket & Tennis On MCC Women’s Day, 8 August 2025

I had arranged to play tennis at 14:00, after the two-hour MCC Women’s Day gathering on the tennis court, to which I had not been invited as a player.

I arrived at Lord’s around 12:00, determined to watch some cricket and tennis before I played. I am very glad I did that.

The first match on the cricket pitch was between an MCC XI and Gunnersbuty WCC. This was in part a celebration of “The Gunns” centenary year.

Originally from “out our way” around Ealing/Gunnersbury (who knew), the club has actually moved around a lot, now in Barnet, but at one time (1960s) based at Boston Manor Park, where Janie and I play our “lawn”.

I must have been going through a purple patch in Boston Manor Park at that time

I watched with divided loyalties, as The Gunns turned what looked like a losing cause into an excellently-timed successful run chase.

You can read about all the cricket action from that day and even see the video here.

After that, I watched the women at tennis for a while, chatting with those who were off the court.

Then it was my turn to play, with three great stalwarts: Michael Keane, Max McHardy and Barry Nathan. I worked out that, between the four of us, there were only three organic hips on the court, the other five, including  Pinky, my new right hip, being prosthetic. Max boasted that both of his hips are originals, only then to confess that both of his knees are falsies.

I decided to name us The Bionic Quartet. I asked DeepAI to try to depict “The Bionic Quartet” based on a short description:

Not bad. I suggested fewer beards and tennis rackets rather than musical instruments:

Hmmm – AI seems determined to depict vast amounts of facial hair, even when asked not to. I didn’t dare try to get the software to depict real tennis rackets.

I stuck around briefly after tennis to see a bit of the second cricket match, but the thought of avoiding the rush hour on the tube and getting home in good time became a greater draw than the cricket quite quickly. I have seen a lot of the stuff over the past few weeks and will be seeing plenty more before the season is completely done.

A Day At The Hundred Final, 18 August 2024

Zara Larsson making a mockery of the pavilion dress code.

Janie and I went to the final of the Hundred…again.

Pretty much everything I want to say about the day is beautifully summarised in the King Cricket piece, “authored by Daisy”, in which I am Ged and Janie is Daisy:

Daylight Larssony at The Hundred Final – a match report

If anything were to befall the King Cricket website, you can read that piece here.

The only details to add, as King Cricket match reports religiously omit anything about the cricket itself, are:

  • the women’s final was Welsh Fire v London Spirit, which the latter won. This was the first time a domestic home side had won a white ball trophy at Lord’s since the 1980s, so we were dancing in the seats of the Lord’s pavillion that afternoon;

We had a lovely day.

An Afternoon & Evening “Watching” London Spirit v Manchester Originals At Lord’s

Janie “watching cricket” intensely.

This brace of matches (women’s and then men’s) was also a Nell Mescal concert.

Pretty much everything I wanted to say about our afternoon and evening was captured in a King Cricket piece, which was published with alarming speed, I think because it touched on one of KC’s pieces about Dan Lawrence’s gyratory bowling action.

Conspicuous indifference to Dan Lawrence’s gyrations from a human being

If anything were ever to go awry over at King Cricket, you can read that article here.

In the unlikely event that anyone wants to know what happened in those matches:

As is so often the case with these matches, the women’s one was closer and in that regard far more entertaining. We didn’t stay to the end of the men’s one. We rarely do, regardless of how it is going. You CAN have too much of a good thing – especially when it starts to get a bit chilly in the evening.

But as usual we had a jolly good time.