Tag: Merchant Taylors’ School

Two Short Visits To Cricket Matches With Daisy: Lord’s For The Women’s ODI England v India, & Merchant Taylors’ School For Middlesex v Northamptonshire, 19 & 23 July 2025

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.

We decided to stroll with our ice creams into the Harris Garden (or “Grandpa’s Garden”, as I like to call it), which looked enticingly non-corporate and empty for a major match day. There, we were charmingly accosted by a lady who wanted to take a selfie with Daisy’s ice cream in hand, and then proceeded to tell us all about her personal struggles with bipolar disorder.

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.

We took our leave of Lord’s and watched the end of the match (after the rain interval) from the comfort of our Noddyland home. Here’s a link to how it all turned out, if you want Cricinfo chapter and verse.

It ain’t Lord’s, but it is still magical

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.

As “So-Called Freedom Day” Came & Went, We Indulged In Some Cricket & A Bit Of Low Key Socialising, 7 July To 6 August 2021

It was a strange period; the height of summer in regular times but the autumn of the pandemic, as it were.

The government had signalled a possible “relaxing of pandemic restrictions” for towards the end of June, but the highly infectious delta variant of Covid 19 led to the deferral of that “freedom day” until 19 July.

There was much re-jigging of diaries and arrangements in the weeks leading up to and following the revised date.

For the most part, Janie and I carried on doing what we had been doing during partial lockdown: working, volunteering and playing tennis.

Middlesex v Leicestershire, Merchant Taylors’ School, 12 & 13 July 2021

The plan was for me and Janie to go with Fran & Simon on Monday 12 July, but plans have a habit of going awry. The weather forecast for the Monday was awful and indeed it was heaving down with rain in Ealing.

Janie and I abandoned all hope of going to the game by mid afternoon, despite the fact that the rain was mysteriously dodging Northwood and play was taking place beneath leaden skies.

I’m rather glad we did decide to bale out of going, as I learnt the next day that it took people from Ealing/Acton way a couple of hours to get home due to the flash floods.

Simon ended up watching some rather good cricket solo on the Monday, while I ended up doing similar on the Tuesday.

I had arranged to play real tennis at Middlesex University early on the Tuesday morning and went on from there to MTS for my first sight of live county cricket since September 2019.

The Fag End Of The Cricket Season, Lord’s, 23 to 25 September 2019

Social distancing was still the order of the day, so I sat in a reserved area and was suitably reserved.

We were allowed to stroll a bit, which enabled me to encounter some of “the usual suspects”, such as Barmy Kev and Jeff Coleman, who for some obscure reason were bemoaning Middlesex’s poor play and poor luck this season.

I tried to cheer myself up by reading The Economist, which for some obscure reason was bemoaning the economic devastation caused by the global pandemic.

Middlesex were in a bit of a hole second dig, so I do understand why people were pessimistic, especially as Middlesex had been snatching defeat from the very jaws of victory all season. Still, I was strangely optimistic about Middlesex’s position given my previous experiences of seeing teams bat last at MTS.

For once, I called it right – click here for the match scorecard .

Ealing Samaritans Gunnersbury Park Party, Tuesday 20 July 2021

Janie had hardly met any of her new Samaritans colleagues before, other than in an “on shift” context, as she had done all of her training by Zoom and they had not been able to meet socially during lockdown.

So the “party in the park” idea seemed to be the ideal opportunity to meet some more people…

…which indeed it was. It was just a shame that, apart from Janie and Ilkay, whom Janie had already befriended and met, no-one from their traning group attended that night.

Still, Alison Shindler (coincidentally an old friend of mine from BBYO, as reported here) was there with her husband Joe, which was fun. We met some other very nice Samaritans volunteer folk including some of the Ealing grandees.

Janie was so late back from work, however, that we missed the entertainment for the evening, Marie Naffah, who was doing 50 gigs in 50 days, apparently. We arrived just in time to say goodbye to her, so for now the video below will have to do.

The Hundred: London Spirit v Oval Invincibles Double Header, Lord’s, Sunday 25 July 2021

In the end we only got to see half a double-header, as the weather closed in after the women’s match. What was predicted to be the possibility of some light showers turned out to be torrential rain and flash floods which caused havoc around London.

Mercifully, my weather app tipped me off before the weather got too bad.

I have reported the event for King Cricket, click here or below:

A report from the first day of the Hundred at Lord’s

Just in case anything ever happens to King Cricket, a scrape of that article can be found here.

Despite shortened event due to the weather, we rather enjoyed ourselves. I had arranged to return for the midweek games myself and Janie was scheduled to join me on Finals Day, so we anticipated that we’d still get our fill of The Hundred.

Middlesex v Durham at Radlett, Tuesday 27 July 2021

Parking spaces at cricket grounds don’t get much more rural-idyllic than this

Janie and I had an early game of tennis, then met Simon at lunchtime/early afternoon at Radlett. I chatted briefly with Mike O’Farrell and others, holding up the process of finding some decent seats and settling in for some old-fashioned List A 50-overs-a-side cricket.

The weather sort-of smiled on us until mid to late afternoon, when a shower threatened to end proceedings but in any case was enough to scare us away from an exposed ground such as Radlett.

After the rain, a tense Duckworth-Lewis finish, which Janie and I watched on the stream at home. As has been the way this season, Middlesex were “close but no cigar”.

London Spirit v Trent Rockets, Double-Header, Lord’s 29 July 2021

In my desire to really check out The Hundred tournament, I had reserved a member’s place for myself at both of the midweek events at Lord’s. This was the first of them.

I enjoyed the women’s game from the pavilion terrace, where I was sitting right in front of the assembled rockets (as it were) while they waited to do their thing.

I was delighted to be invited to help choose the walk-on music for some of the players, although I didn’t recognise many of the bangin’ hits on offer.

I had planned to take in the men’s game from the sanctuary of the Upper Tavern Stand, but just before the end of the women’s game I was joined by Alvin, who then popped out to make a call before I had the chance to tell him my plans. So I watched the first innings of the men’s game from the pavilion, with Alvin, then relocated to the Tavern Stand for the final innings.

London Spirit did not do very well in these matches…

…women…

…and men.

Oh well.

Caroline, Alan & Jilly Visit Noddyland, 1 August 2021

A bouquet of yummy chocolate strawberries from Caroline

Long in the planning, it was super to see Caroline, Alan and Jilly after such a long time.

In fact, last time we saw Caroline & Alan for a meal, Janie and I were still full of Japan, as it were.

It’s summer, so Janie went for wild Alaskan salmon as the main, after some nibbles in the garden.

The afternoon and evening flew by, surprising us all when we realised that it was getting dark. That’s what tends to happen these days.

London Spirit v Northern Superchargers, Double-Header, Lord’s, 3 August 2021

An opportunity to watch some more cricket and get some reading done, I took in the second of the midweek The Hundred double-headers.

I decided to watch the women’s match from the Upper Allen stand and the men’s match from the Upper Tavern.

The women’s match was probably the best game (i.e. the most exciting game of cricket) I saw all tournament – see the scorecard here.

The men’s game probably the least exciting.

Oh well.

Pete Reynolds Memorial At Mosimann’s, 6 August 2021

Our first venture in a cab and our first indoor event since lockdown. Shirley was very keen that we join the event, as we (along with so many of their friends) had been unable to attend the funeral during lockdown.

Grace had organised the event wonderfully well. Mosimann’s is a stunning venue and was well suited to the occasion.

The speeches were heartfelt and moving, but it was mostly a party, which was, apparently, what Pete wanted. Pete usually got what he wanted in life, I believe, so he was certainly going to have what he wanted in this regard.

Philafrenzy, CC BY-SA 4.0

A Day Watching Cricket At Merchant Taylors’ School With Fran And Simon, 30 May 2018

Previous attempts to watch cricket with Fran and Simon had been foreshortened for one reason…

Two Forms Of Soaking And Two Friendly Gatherings In One Day, Uxbridge and Southwark, 13 September 2017

…or another.

An Unusual Day In Radlett And At The Oval, During Which Middlesex Came Second Twice, 17 May 2018

Further, all of my previous attempts to watch cricket at Merchant Taylors’ School (I believe three) had been totally rained off on my attempted day, to such an extent that I hadn’t even ventured to the ground before.

So I suppose it was understandable that the weather forecast a few days ahead of the game somewhat spooked Fran:

Oh heck, just seen the weather prediction for Merchant Taylors on Wednesday; rain, thunder and lightning. You couldn’t make it up!

By the time I got to see Fran’s message, about 12 hours later, the weather forecast was showing rain for the previous couple of days but clear weather for the Wednesday itself. Me to Fran:

Unreliable forecast, yours. Look again – problem solved. Seriously, I won’t go if the forecast on the day is poor but I suspect it’ll be ok.

Nearly 24 hours later, when Fran picked up my message and by which time the forecast was again showing thunderstorms spilling over until Wednesday, she was unconvinced:

Yeah, as long as you don’t mind being struck by lightning! Charles the gent did mention you were a perpetual optimist…

In the end, the weather pretty much did what the forecasters were inferring – i.e. we had quite a lot of rain, thunder and lightening on the day before the match including some into the early hours and even the morning of the game, but all passing through before the match was due to start.

I guessed there’d be a delayed start but with the forecast clear for the hours of play, it was highly likely that, once they started, they’d get a game in, even if a reduced one.

I kept an eye on the on-line information. Almost as soon as I saw that the 11:30 inspection confirmed that play for a slightly reduced match would start at 12:00, Simon called me to tell me same. I told him I’d probably get to MTS around 12:30, which I did.

Fran and Simon had got there pretty early and saved me a seat with them at the front at a pretty handy “third man” view, quite near the hospitality tent.

What a lovely setting Merchant Taylors’ School is for watching cricket.

A lovely setting for watching cricket

I knew that Fran lived nearby, but I hadn’t realised that her son, Paul, went to MTS, so she really does know the school well:

A view of the school across the playing fields

I learnt last time that Fran and Simon are not picnic lovers, so I simply took some nuts, fruit and liquids for sustenance, as had they.

It was actually perfect cricket watching weather; warm but not hot. Not sunny, but not gloomy either. Out-ground county cricket has a lovely relaxed atmosphere to it; you are watching a very high grade of cricket but you are watching it in an environment that feels more like a club or even a village match.

Time passes, the scoreboard ticks round…

We chatted, we watched, we engaged with one or two other spectators and with one or two players.

Such a day passes very quickly and very pleasantly.

This wasn’t a good match for Middlesex. Yet again Middlesex batted first, stalled/didn’t really get going and thus ended up short of a total that would really enable our bowlers to apply pressure. 30 or 40 more would have been a different story, I sensed. It was the same story in several such matches this season.

Here is a link to the Cricinfo scorecard and resources on that match.

But as a day out and gathering, for sure it was a success. Fran and Simon got to see a whole match. And we actually got to spend best part of a day watching cricket together; third time lucky. A very enjoyable day.